1st Reading

2 Mc 7:1-2.9-14
Belief in the resurrection of
the dead was the unconquerable
moral strength which enabled
the seven martyrs and their
mother, who are exalted in todays reading, to endure terrible
tortures because of their loyalty
to the Lord.
R A proclamation from the
Second Book of Maccabees
It happened that seven
brothers with their mother
were arrested and tortured
with whips and scourges by
the king, to force them to eat
pork in violation of Gods law.
One of the brothers, speaking
for the others, said: What do
you expect to achieve by questioning us? We are ready to die
rather than transgress the laws
of our ancestors.
At the point of death, he
said: You accursed end! You
are depriving us of this present
life, but the King of the world
will raise us up to live again
forever. It is for his laws that
we are dying.
After him, the third suffered their cruel sport. He put
out his tongue at once when
told to do so, and bravely held
out his hands, as he spoke these
noble words: It was from
Heaven that I received these.
For the sake of his laws I disdain them. From him I hope to
receive them again.
Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young
mans courage, because he regarded his sufferings as nothing.
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.
The Word of the Lord!
All Thanks be to God!
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 17
R Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full!
6 November 2016

the Lord that what we instruct

you, you are doing and will
continue to do.
May the Lord direct your
hearts to the love of God and to
the endurance of Christ.
The Word of the Lord!
All Thanks be to God!

* Hear, O Lord, a just suit;

attend to my outcry. Hearken
to my prayer from lips without
deceit.
R.
* My steps have been steadfast in your paths, my feet have
not faltered. I call upon you,
for you will answer me, O God.
Incline your ear to me; hear my
word.
R.
* Keep me as the apple of
your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. But I in justice shall behold your face; on
waking I shall be content in
your presence.
R.
2nd Reading
2 Thes 2:16-3:5
The few verses of todays
excerpt from the Second Letter
to the Thessalonians reveal the
Apostle Pauls fatherly concern
for the welfare of those believers. They also reveal his ardent
desire that the Gospel may enlighten many others.
R A proclamation from the
Second Letter of Paul to the
Thessalonians
Brothers and sisters:
May our Lord Jesus Christ
himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us
everlasting encouragement and
good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and
strengthen them in every good
deed and word.
Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the
word of the Lord may speed
forward and be glori ed, as
it did among you, and that we
may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for
not all have faith.
But the Lord is faithful. He
will strengthen you and guard
you from the evil one.
We are con dent of you in

Gospel Acclamation
All Alleluia! Alleluia!
Jesus Christ is the rstborn of the dead; to him
be glory and power, forever and ever.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Gospel
Lk 20:27-38
The Sadducees intended to
embarrass Jesus. Their tricky
question, however, gave him
the opportunity to unmistakably
restate his teaching about the
resurrection of all the dead and
some of the features of the children of the resurrection.
P The Lord be with you!
All And with your spirit!
P A proclamation from the
holy Gospel according to
Luke
All Glory to you, O Lord!
Some Sadducees, those
who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and
put this question to Jesus, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for
us, If someones brother dies
leaving a wife but no child, his
brother must take the wife and
raise up descendants for his
brother. Now there were seven
brothers. The rst married
a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third
married her, and likewise all
the seven died childless. Finally
the woman also died. Now, at
the resurrection, whose wife
will that woman be? For all
seven had been married to her.
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

All For the kingdom, the

power, and the glory are
yours, now and for ever.

Sign of Peace
Breaking of the Bread
All Lamb of God . . .
Communion
P Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins
of the world. Blessed are those
called to the supper of the Lamb.
All Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under
my roof, but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
Communion Antiphon
(To be recited only when no Communion Hymn is sung.)

The Lord is my shepherd;

there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose,
near restful waters he leads me.

Prayer after Communion

P Nourished by this sacred
gift, O Lord, we give you thanks
and beseech your mercy, that, by
the pouring forth of your Spirit,
the grace of integrity may endure
in those your heavenly power has
entered.
Through Christ our Lord.
All Amen!

P The Lord be with you.

All And with your spirit.
P Bow your heads and pray
for Gods blessing. (Pause)
May the Lord strengthen
your faith in the life to
come.
All Amen!
P May He enable you to live in
a way that leads to eternal
happiness in heaven.
All Amen!
P May He console you in all
your af ictions and make
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you instruments of His

preferential love for the
weak and the sick.
All Amen!
P May almighty God bless
you: the Father, and the

Son, and the Holy Spirit.

All Amen!
P Go in peace, glorifying the
Lord by your life!
All Thanks be to God!

We Believe in the Resurrection of the Dead

Thim up by presenting the case of the woman who had married seven brothhe Sadducees who approached Jesus thought that they could easily trip

ers, one after another. Their intention was to prove that they were right in holding
that there can be no such thing as resurrection of the dead.
What they achieved, however, was only to show how wrong their concept of
resurrection and of the afterlife was. Jesus said this to their faces, to the delight
of the scribes who heard his answer. (See Mk 12:24 and Lk 20:39.)
The human mind, left to itself, either does not reach any certitude about the fact
of the resurrection of the dead, or conceives life after death as something gloomy
and depressing, as we gather from the Greek and Latin mythologies. It is only
divine revelation which assures us that there is life beyond death and that the dead
will rise again.
But the life of the resurrected will not be a sort of life on earth, part II. As
Jesus tells us, Those deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection . . . , no longer die, for they are like angels (Lk 20:35-36). St. Paul reminds
the Corinthians and us that What is sown on earth is subject to decay. What rises
is incorruptible . . . A natural body is put down and a spiritual body comes up. (1
Cor 15:42.44. See also Phil 3:21.)
The life of the children of the resurrection, then, will be essentially different
from our present life. Yet, it will also be related to it because it will be conditioned
by the way we behave during our earthly life. Hence, there is newness but also
relatedness.
Such relatedness answers the difculty of the Sadducees of our times who
reject belief in an afterlife and in the resurrection of the dead, on the grounds that
it prevents us from valuing this life and this world.
As a matter of fact, it is those who reject belief in the afterlife, who make this life
valueless and any commitment meaningless. For, if death were to mark the end of
what a person has done and has been, then how could earthly life or human history
have a meaning and a value? It would be like a train inevitably heading for a bottomless cliff a horrible prospect which would nullify all that has preceded it, and
cast on it a dark shadow of sadness and hopelessness.
The criticism leveled by the unbelievers against those who believe in the resurrection of the dead is baseless. A person who really believes in an afterlife that will
depend on how we behave in this life has to take this life and this world very seriously, for they are the only opportunity and situation in which one can acquire the
credits that will determine the quality of the endless life to come.
In the faith-vision of the believers, the whole life of each individual, as well as
the vicissitudes of all mankind, have a direction and a meaning. Even when one
dies, one has still something to look forward to. Such a faith-vision has the power
to confer a value even to the defeats and losses of this life. It has given the martyrs
of all ages the strength to endure tortures and even death with a serenity and hope
unknown to those who do not believe in the afterlife. (See todays First Reading.)
Yet, we have also to say and without apologizing that, while we take this
life seriously, we do not absolutize it. We simply view it realistically for what it is: a
temporary gift from God, meant to prepare us for an even greater gift: the eternal
life which will reach its fullness when our souls will be reunited with our transformed
bodies. (See 2 Mc 7:9 and 1 Cor 15.)
Such is the inspiring vision which our Christian faith offers a vision which is not
a human invention. Rather, it is based on the Word of God, especially the preaching of Jesus Christ, and is guaranteed by his Resurrection. (See 1 Cor 15:12-23.)

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