To Him All Are Alive November 25

But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. When they stood on their feet, great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here.” Revelations 11:11-12

“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. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Luke 20: 36-38

Piety

Lord, let us live our lives in such a fashion that when this life is over, you greet us with the Great Invitation, “Come up here.” For to you, all are alive in the spirit.

Help us to avoid erecting false tests for you but rather help us pass the true test you set before us. Deliver us from evil and grant us peace today. Amen.

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/112506.shtml

Imagining Heaven and describing it in mortal in terms that everyone can understand is impossible.

When a true prophet is in our midst, it is hard to comprehend the message the prophet is saying. The passage from Revelations recounts how prophets were mistreated by their contemporaries despite their holiness and actions. Although the message is rejected on earth, they are welcomed into heaven (“Come up here.”) by God’s Great Invitation.

Jesus, too, faces another external test. This one comes from the Sadducees on a hypothetical case about death, resurrection and marriage. Jesus forces his inquisitors to think in different terms rather than trying to judge what happens in heaven by the laws of the earth.

“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

Jesus’ teaching may be seen as a contradiction from the “conventional wisdom” and the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. As such, it bears out the prophecy from Simeon that was at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel:

“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34-35

From the way Luke described the encounter, the Sadducees probably felt like a ball player trying to argue with the umpire. Helpless.

As Christians, we do not have to feel helpless. Just as Jesus and the prophets were tested by society, so, too, are we. We can experience and understand the tug-of-war between what it means to be a successful Christian and what it means to be successful in commercial, secular society. But, the contradiction does not have to be a negative force. Such a force can be a force for good, a force for resurrection as we let the Christian objectives come to the forefront.

However, despite the apparent conflict and gloominess of the situations in today’s readings – the Sadducees trying to trap Jesus, the prophets persecuted and left for dead – the readings both end on a sign of hopefulness and vigor. They reaffirm that our God is a God who values all life. No matter what our flaws and faults, He will invite us to join Him on the last day if we are not just His admirers, but if we are His followers.

Action

Did you survive Buy Nothing Day? Were you seduced into the malls or the Internet shopping channels?

Consider how you can make this season one of personal sacrifice. Rather than going into debt to fund a more extravagant holiday than last year, how can you make your gift giving a personal statement of your God-give talents rather than your credit limit?