GOD'S WORD IN DAILY LIFE
20 November/Saturday/33rd Week in Ordinary Time,
1Macc 6,1-13/Psa 9,2-3.4.6.16.19/Luke 20,27-40
By Most Rev Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD
First Reading 1 Maccabees 6:1-13
'I remember the wrong I did in Jerusalem'
King Antiochus was making his way across the upper provinces; he had heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais, renowned for its riches, its silver and gold, and its very wealthy temple containing golden armour, breastplates and weapons, left there by Alexander son of Philip, the king of Macedon, the first to reign over the Greeks. He therefore went and attempted to take the city and pillage it, but without success, since the citizens learnt of his intention, and offered him a stiff resistance, whereupon he turned about and retreated, disconsolate, in the direction of Babylon. But while he was still in Persia news reached him that the armies that had invaded the land of Judah had been defeated, and that Lysias in particular had advanced in massive strength, only to be forced to turn and flee before the Jews; these had been strengthened by the acquisition of arms, supplies and abundant spoils from the armies they had cut to pieces; they had overthrown the abomination he had erected over the altar in Jerusalem, and had encircled the sanctuary with high walls as in the past, and had fortified Bethzur, one of his cities. When the king heard this news he was amazed and profoundly shaken; he threw himself on his bed and fell into a lethargy from acute disappointment because things had not turned out for him as he had planned. And there he remained for many days, subject to deep and recurrent fits of melancholy, until he understood that he was dying. Then summoning all his Friends, he said to them, ‘Sleep evades my eyes, and my heart is cowed by anxiety. I have been asking myself how I could have come to such a pitch of distress, so great a flood as that which now engulfs me – I who was so generous and well-loved in my heyday. But now I remember the wrong I did in Jerusalem when I seized all the vessels of silver and gold there, and ordered the extermination of the inhabitants of Judah for no reason at all. This, I am convinced, is why these misfortunes have overtaken me, and why I am dying of melancholy in a foreign land.’
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 9A(9):2-4,6,16,19
I will rejoice in your saving help, O Lord.
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you and be glad,
and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
See how my enemies turn back,
how they stumble and perish before you.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked;
you have wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The nations have fallen in the pit which they made,
their feet caught in the snare they laid;
for the needy shall not always be forgotten
nor the hopes of the poor be in vain.
Gospel Acclamation cf. Luke 8:15
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 20:27-40
In God all men are alive
Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’
Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’ Some scribes then spoke up. ‘Well put, Master’ they said – because they would not dare to ask him any more questions.
Reflection
The First Reading presents an account of the last days of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The account indicates that he did not experience a happy end. His decision to defeat the city of Elymais, known also as Elam in the Bible did not materialise. At the same time, he is said to have received news of the defeat of his army led by Lysias who was fighting against the Jews of the Maccabean revolt. Things were falling apart for a man who at one point in his life equated himself to a god and erected his own statues for worship by the people.
The last part of the reading reveals how Antiochus IV Epiphanes confessed the evil and abominable things he did when he conquered Jerusalem. He can be fittingly called a temple robber as he robbed the temple of all its sacred vessels. His recognition and admission of guilt came rather late, when he was already on his death bed. Despite its lateness, we acknowledge his sincerity in admitting his guilt. He however fell short of ordering the return of the sacred vessels to Jerusalem.
Unfortunately, we can still find among world leaders of our times some who behave like Antiochus IV Epiphanes. When they are in power, they think they are all powerful and so no one can challenge them or advise them. They take arbitrary decisions without due consideration for their subjects. We should not wish such people the same end as was the case of Antiochus IV Epiphanes because that would be unchristian on our part. We know our God is a loving God who does not want the death of the wicked person but that he/she repents and lives. As Jesus said in the Gospel Reading, our God is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive. We should therefore pray that people who behave like Antiochus IV Epiphanes would see the light of the truth and convert when there is still time.