God of the Living

November 24, 2007

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, priest and martyr, and his companions, martyrs

“Sleep has departed from my eyes, for my heart is sinking with anxiety. I said to myself: ‘Into what tribulation have I come, and in what floods of sorrow am I now! Yet I was kindly and beloved in my rule.’ But I now recall the evils I did in Jerusalem, when I carried away all the vessels of gold and silver that were in it, and for no cause gave orders that the inhabitants of Judah be destroyed.” 1 Maccabees 6:10-12

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

From The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When it comes, it is not an accident, but a necessity. It is not the sort of suffering which is inseparable from this mortal life, but the suffering which is an essential part of the Christian life. It is not suffering per se but suffering-and-rejection, and not rejection for any cause or conviction of our own, but rejection for the sake of Christ. If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian essence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary everyday calamity, as one of the trials and tribulations of life.

The cross means sharing the suffering of Christ to the last and to the fullest.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/112407.shtml

Human standards of behavior are jut not going to get us anywhere when it comes to our relationship with God. He demands more…much more from everyone. He demands that we take up our cross and follow Jesus. Whether you are the political leader or a regular citizen, you might think that you are within your rights to do this or that. Or you might think that society calls on you to act this way or that way. However, God has different designs. Sometimes, people learn the hard way.

Many kings persecuted the Jews throughout the Bible. Today we focus not on Herod or Pilate but on King Antioch. Antioch had in his political and military powers the ability to sack Jerusalem and desecrate the altar. However, despite his efforts, he ultimately lost to the unexpected fight put up under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus. King Antioch failed and he realized that he faced death because of the deeds he had prosecuted.

The Pharisees were not trying to destroy the city and the temple. Their focus was on the person of Jesus. They first tried to challenge him with traps dressed up in theological questions. Jesus answered them in a manner which separated the standards and expectations of social behavior in this world from the standards that God has.

While the Pharisees hinged their question on a statement from Moses, Jesus also turned to Moses in his reply.

Throughout history, there have always been people and cultures who were willing to use their military, economic, political or academic prowess to destroy the Church. In fact, today the Church celebrates St. Andrew Dung-Lac and hundreds of Vietnamese Catholics who were martyred in the 19^th century by those who wanted to stop the spread of of Christianity to Southeast Asia.

According to American Catholic, “It may help a people who associate Vietnam only with a recent war to realize that the cross has long been a part of the lives of the people of that country. Even as we ask again the unanswered questions about United States involvement and disengagement, the faith rooted in Vietnam's soil proves hardier than the forces which would destroy it.”

Action

What do we do when we are alive to connect us to the God of the living? How hardy is our defense of the teachings of the Church?

Some volunteer to clean up the side of a road or a stream to improve the environment.

Some buy or deliver holiday gifts or meals to families that truly need help.

Some give to the Campaign for Courtney http://www.courtneyscampaign.blogspot.com/

Some write to their legislators about issues like war and peace, stem cell research, the death penalty and torture.

Some do all of the above and more.