Saturday the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time
(1 Maccabees 6: 1 – 13; Ps. 9; Luke 20: 27 – 40)
They came in force readily prepared to take on Jesus, these Sadducees, not believing in the resurrection and in their contempt for Jesus, thinking they had a way to make resurrection laughable and of course, causing Jesus to look like a fool…the fool they held Him to be.
Perhaps, trying to hide the contempt, and smirks, they look intently at Jesus as if they were sincerely seeking an answer to this complicated marriage problem. Jesus, who could read men’s hearts, looked at them just as intently and, nevertheless, being Truth incarnate took the time to teach them. Even in the face of their hypocrisy, He did not hesitate to respond. With mercy and compassion for their behavior and their clear ignorance He proclaimed, “…the God we worship is the God of the living…for to Him all are alive.” And as St. Luke noted, for some in the audience He answered well but only for some.
However we approach the Lord – whether we are only going through the motions or sincerely seeking His truth, Jesus is always the teacher, the living Truth committed to setting people – us – free.
As Paul wrote to Timothy, so he proclaims to us: “If we are unfaithful, He will still remain faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Simply put, the Lord is always “yes”.
This is why we address our Lord as we do in Psalm 71: “our refuge, our rock, our stronghold, our fortress.” May what we proclaim in the Psalms in praise be also a proclamation of conviction, of profound belief that makes each one of us thoroughly people of faith, of hope always in a response of heartfelt gratitude to the One who is Truth and teaches only the Truth because He is our Savior, the One who delivers us into LIfe.
Comments are closed.