Children of Christ’s Resurrection

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same  way. When he was near death, he said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”  (2 Micah 7:14)

Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. (Luke 20:34-36)

Piety

Let us pray:  Ever present God, you called us to be in relationship with one another and promised to dwell wherever two or three are gathered. In our community, we are many different people; we come from many different places, have many different cultures. Open our hearts that we may be bold in finding the riches of inclusion and the treasures of diversity among us. We pray in faith.  Amen.  (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)

http://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/Justice-Prayers.cfm

Study

We are the Land of the Free.  Right now, it is a rambunctious, fractured freedom but the freedom to vote for a leader is fast approaching.  Many, many people in the world do not have that choice.  As a country, we are caught in a cycle of accusation and recrimination; there is not much rejoicing over an election process which our freedom affords us.    

The young man in Micah was bound, tortured and facing execution but he saw himself as free because he believed so completely that God would raise him – his freedom would be absolute and eternal.  What a contrast, however, with the Sadducees who were caged by their super-strict adherence to the Law which, carried to an extreme, was absurd.  Jesus saw through their myopic cynicism.  He reminds them that resurrection is a totally new manner to be with God which grows out of sharing in God’s divine, freely given life while we are citizens of the world.  But, Jesus teaches, the world is finite, frail, finicky.  A share in the divine life imbues our lives with rich meaning and almost limitless possibilities even bounded by human death.  

Action
We are citizens of the world, the USA, the neighborhood, the parish we belong to.  But we are sons and daughters of the eternal, immutable, generous beyond understanding, loving God of the universe.  What kind of a son or daughter do we find ourselves as we navigate the worldly freedoms accorded us?  Are we generous with our gifts?  Do we see brothers and sisters or “other” next door and across the continents?  Can we hold out our hands bound by our humanness and offer an embrace to serve and love?  What will I do today to exhibit my glorious freedom as son/daughter of the resurrection?