All Are Alive

Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/112214.cfm

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.”  So they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies looked on.  Revelation 11:11-12

Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage; 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.  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 20:34-38

Piety

Joyful Gospel Acclamation

Bless the lips of those proclaiming God’s Good News – proclaiming God’s Good News today

Bless the ears that by our listening we may hear – we may hear the words they say.

Bless the minds with understanding, so we hear the message clear

Bless the eyes that in our looking we may see – may see the Lord!

Hallelujah! 

Study

These last days and weeks of the liturgical year have many readings which help us to commemorate the mysterious, joyful, sorrowful and glorious events which unfolded throughout the year and daily.  While Revelation opens new doors, behind these doors echo the voices of the whole year.

Fear.  A young girl in Palestine finds herself with child.  He fiancé contemplates leaving her. 

A breath of life. Nativity. In the Upper Room, receive the Holy Spirit.

Up to Heaven in a Cloud.  Ascension.

Voice of God. Baptism.  Transfiguration.

Enemies looked on.  Temptation in the desert. Pharisees in the temple.

All Are Alive. The resurrection stories that pave the way for the Resurrection and move forward.

Action

Just typed today's date & shuddered a little. Life goes on, but November 22 is never just another day on the calendar.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) November 22, 2014

On Twitter today, Scott Simon of National Public Radio share the message above.  How true.  November 22 is never just a date.  Last year, the news media was overly focused on the events in Dallas as they had occurred 50 years ago.  

However, the 51^st anniversary has less significance for cultural news coverage even though the events remain a critical example for the continuity of our way of life through tragedy.

Those who were alive on November 22, 1963 remember where they were when they heard about the shots that rang out in Dealey Plaza.  Today’s column by Colbert King reminds us of the continuity and the interruption that happened that day.

Daily we also are reminded of what happened on the hillside in Jerusalem 2014 years ago. Three nails.  A sword.  A crown of thorns. A cross from which hangs the lifeless body of an itinerant preacher from Nazareth who riled up the powers that be.   As his body died that day, he interrupted the pattern of the sins of our past and ushered in redemption for all who came before and all who would follow afterward.

Unlike other anniversaries, the dates for Good Friday and Easter on our calendars change from year to year.  Although the Nativity if fixed on December 25, the most holy days on our calendar shift.  Maybe that is good so that we can remember these events every day.  Maybe that is good so we do not forget the meaning of the daily celebration of the Mass.  All are alive thanks to that itinerant preacher who walked among us and left behind his Holy Spirit and our eternal mission.  All are commissioned to carry out his ministry and pay his act of love forward.