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To: Salvation
Regnum Christi

November 25, 2017 – Christ Is the Answer

Saturday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 20: 27-40

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask him another question.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the Alpha and the Omega. You have given me life and offer me eternal life with you. You deserve my honor, gratitude and love, and yet you never impose yourself upon me. Thank you for respecting my freedom so that I can offer myself to you. All that I have is yours; I return it to you.

Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to be a child of God, a child of the resurrection.

1. Simple and Constant Conversation: Today we see some Sadducees asking Christ an important question about heaven. Christ teaches us that once we are in heaven, things will be considerably different than they are here on earth. This is a beautiful example how we can converse with Christ. We simply need to ask him questions: questions about our faith, about difficulties we may be having with certain relationships, about career changes, etc. The answers we receive may not be what we were expecting or hoping for, but what is important is that we engage Christ in conversation every day and that we seek to please him in everything we do. This open, warm contact with Our Lord is already a little taste of heaven.

2. Union with Christ: Christ reminds us that he and the Father are the God of the living. He gave us our life; we lost it. He became man, suffered, died and rose on the third day that we might have a new life — a life in and with God, now and for all eternity. Our ultimate marriage will be in heaven, as we will be one with God as Jesus is.

3. Participation in the Life of God: When God reveals his mysteries to us, we participate in his life. God has made us so we would pursue him, so we would listen to him, so we would understand him, so we would crave the things of God. Is not that a mystery unto itself? We have a God who wants to speak with us constantly about the things of heaven! This reality, this inestimable gift, should move us to share with others the Good News.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, through your death and resurrection and my baptism, you have made me a child of God. Help me to appreciate more fully this day and what it means to be a child of God. Grant me the grace to live in accord with this gift of gifts.

Resolution: Today I will look on all things as if God were speaking to me in every moment.

30 posted on 11/25/2017 3:48:19 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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All Issues > Volume 33, Issue 6

<< Saturday, November 25, 2017 >> St. Catherine of Alexandria
 
1 Maccabees 6:1-13
View Readings
Psalm 9:2-4, 6, 16, 19 Luke 20:27-40
Similar Reflections
 

DENIAL IS JUST A RIVER IN EGYPT!

 
"Sick with grief because his designs had failed, he took to his bed. There he remained many days, overwhelmed with sorrow, for he knew he was going to die." �1 Maccabees 6:8-9
 

Before King Antiochus died, he looked back over his reign and observed: "I was kindly and beloved in my rule" (1 Mc 6:12). King Antiochus thought he was a "nice guy" and benevolent king although he:

  • killed mothers with their babies hung from their necks (1 Mc 1:60-61),
  • cut out the tongues of some of his opponents (2 Mc 7:4),
  • scalped and cut off the hands and feet of seven brothers who opposed him (2 Mc 7:4) while their mother looked on, and
  • fried seven brothers and their mother (2 Mc 7:5).

Likewise, Hitler and Stalin may well have thought of themselves as wonderful humanitarians who did so much good for the human race even through concentration camps, gas chambers, starvation bunkers, and gulags.

The human capacity to deny the reality of sin is shocking. We can abort millions of babies supposedly to show how compassionate we are to the poor. We can break the Church into pieces and say we are obeying the Lord rather than defying Him. We can build a culture of death and be proud of our progress.

Let us cry out: "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!" (see Lk 18:13)

 
Prayer: Father, free me from self-deception.
Promise: "They become like angels and are no longer liable to death. Sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God." �Lk 20:36
Praise: St. Catherine is said to have had a vision of Baby Jesus before her Baptism. After her Baptism He introduced her as His bride. God used her wisdom to convert fifty pagan philosophers and the empress.

31 posted on 11/25/2017 3:53:42 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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