The God of the Living Makes Us
Truly Alive
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Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Father Alex Yeung, LC
Luke 20: 27-38
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."
Introductory Prayer: I love You my Lord, because You are
love itself. I am sorry for whatever is in me that does not come from Your
love and does not reflect Your love. If I am to become what You want me to
be, it will happen only if I allow You to act in me.
Petition: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to be a true child of the resurrection.
1. Our Shallows, His Depth: The encounter in this Gospel
passage is somewhat embarrassing to read. It reminds us of so many similar
occurrences in which we see shallowness trying to sound deep, but achieving
little more than bothersome clatter. We’ve all heard rock stars who take
themselves for prophets, or media people who handle issues of the Church,
natural law, and other sublime truths without really knowing what they’re
talking about. They just can’t see things outside of their pre-conceived
notions. Their words grate on our ears and make us cringe. Something similar
happens here. The Sadducees confront our Lord on their own terms and with
their own agenda, armed with what they believe to be clever wit. Precisely
such shallowness is the occasion to reveal God’s depths.
2. Christ More Than Satisfies: Our embarrassment for the Sadducees
turns to admiration for Christ. Christ knew full well what was in the hearts
of those men, and he patiently explained to them where their thinking failed.
The man’s specious reasoning was given an answer that went far beyond the
realm of theory. As the Sadducees’ superficiality is revealed, we get a
glimpse of God’s mercy. These men were humbled, not humiliated. They were not
rejected for being wrong; but were invited to go deeper in the truth. When we
allow the Word of God to penetrate our hearts, it opens entirely new vistas and
takes us out of the comfortable, predictable world of our own pre-conceived
notions. However, for this to happen we need to be open to it. Once the Word
of God finds a crevice, it will work its way in and bring new light into our
previously darkened hearts.
3. We Are Children of the Resurrection: St. Paul says
that whereas Christ is risen, he “has raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). This is what
the Sadducees had to learn and what we must still learn: to know our true
place as “children of the resurrection” who are also members of Christ and
inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are raised again and again, yet
frequently we are unaware of it. God’s word might enter our ears, but it may
take a lifetime for its truth finally to sink into our hearts and penetrate
every aspect of our lives. We are like people waking from sleep, unable to
collect their thoughts quickly. Little by little the truth breaks in upon us
and reality comes into focus. Christ’s truth surprises, reveals and invites.
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus Christ, suddenly I see
that I am more like the Sadducees than I had previously thought. Help me to
have an open heart, alert to Your will and a readiness to adapt to it.
Forgive me my rationalism and small-mindedness. I trust in You.
Resolution: I will strive to see others as children of the resurrection.
Excerpts from
the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
205 +The Resurrection. Today, during the
[Mass of the] Resurrection, I saw the Lord Jesus in the midst of a great
light. He approached me and said, Peace be to you, My children, and He
lifted up His hand and gave His blessing. The wounds in His hands, feet and
side were indelible and shining. When He looked at me with such kindness and
love, my whole soul drowned itself in Him. And He said to me, You have
taken a great part in My Passion; therefore I now give you a great share in
My joy and glory. The whole time of the Resurrection [Mass] seemed like
only a minute to me. A wondrous recollection filled my soul and lasted
throughout the whole festal season. The kindness of Jesus is so great that I
cannot express it.
306 I asked the Lord to grant me the grace that my nature be immune
and resist the influences that sometimes try to draw me away from the spirit
of our rule and from the minor regulations. These minor transgressions are
like little moths that try to destroy the spiritual life within us, and they
surely will destroy it if the soul is aware of these minor transgressions and
yet disregards them as small things. I can see nothing that is small in the
religious life. Little matter if I am sometimes the object of vexation and
jeers, as long as my spirit remains in harmony with the spirit of the rules,
the vows and the religious statutes.
O my Jesus, delight of my heart, You know my desires. I should like to hide from people's sight so as to be like one alive and yet not living. I want to live pure as a wild flower; I want my love always to be turned to You, just as a flower that is always turning to the sun. I want the fragrance and the freshness of the flower of my heart to be always preserved for You alone. I want to live beneath Your divine gaze, for You alone are enough for me. When I am with You, Jesus, I fear nothing, for nothing can do me harm.
413 This morning I
heard these words: From today until the [celebration of the]
Resurrection, you
will not feel My presence, but your soul will be filled with great longing. And immediately a
great longing filled my soul; I felt a separation from my beloved Jesus,
and when the moment for Holy Communion came, I saw the suffering Face of
Jesus in every Host [contained] in the chalice. From that moment, I
felt a more intense yearning in my heart.
649 Mass of the
Resurrection. [April 12, 1936]. When I entered the chapel, my spirit was
immersed in God, its only treasure. His presence flooded me.
650 O my Jesus, my
Master and Director, strengthen and enlighten me in these difficult moments
of my life. I expect no help from people; all my hope is in You. I feel alone
in the face of Your demands, O Lord. Despite the fears and qualms of my
nature, I am fulfilling Your holy will and desire to fulfill it as faithfully
as possible throughout my life and in my death. Jesus, with You I can do all
things. Do with me as You please; only give me Your merciful Heart and that
is enough for me.
O Jesus my Lord,
help me. Let what You have planned before all ages happen to me. I am ready
at each beckoning of Your holy will. Enlighten my mind that I may know Your
will. O God, You who pervade my soul, You know that I desire nothing but Your
glory.
O Divine Will, You
are the delight of my heart, the food of my soul, the light of my intellect,
the omnipotent strength of my will; for when I unite myself with Your will, O
Lord, Your power works through me and takes the place of my feeble will. Each
day, I seek to carry out God's wishes.
697 Jesus, You know
that I love suffering and want to drain the cup of suffering to the last
drop; and yet, my nature experienced a slight shudder and fear. Quickly,
however, my trust in the infinite mercy of God was awakened in all its force,
and everything else had to give way before it, like a shadow retreating
before the sun's rays. O Jesus, how great is Your goodness! Your infinite
goodness, so well known to me, enables me to bravely look death itself in the
eye. I know that nothing will happen to me without God's permission. I desire
to glorify Your infinite mercy during my life, at the hour of death, in the
resurrection and
throughout
eternity.
+ My Jesus, my
strength, my peace, my repose; my soul bathes daily in the rays of Your
mercy. There is not a moment in my life when I do not experience Your mercy,
O God. I count on nothing in my whole life, but only on Your infinite mercy.
It is the guiding thread of my life, O Lord. My soul is filled with God's
mercy.
699 On
one occasion, I heard these words: My daughter, tell the whole world about
My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy [139] be a
refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that
day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of
graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that
will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete
forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates
through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me,
even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it
of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.
Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy.
Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout
eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is
My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.
Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.
1067 March 28.
Resurrection. During the Mass of Resurrection, I saw the Lord in beauty and
splendor, and He said to me, My daughter, peace be with you. He
blessed me and disappeared, and my soul was filled with gladness and joy
beyond words. My heart was fortified for struggle and sufferings.
1141 In the
evening, He gave me to understand how fleeting all earthly things are, and
[how] everything that appears great disappears like smoke, and does not give
the soul freedom, but weariness. Happy the soul that understands these things
and with only one foot touches the earth. My repose is to be united with You;
everything else tires me. Oh, how much I feel I am in exile! I see that no
one understands my interior life. You alone understand me, You who are hidden
in my heart and yet are eternally alive.
1427 Hidden Jesus,
life of my soul,
Object of my ardent
desire,
Nothing will stifle
Your love in my heart.
The power of our
mutual love assures me of that.
Hidden Jesus,
glorious pledge of my resurrection,
All my life is
concentrated in You.
It is You, O Host,
who empower me to love forever,
And I know that You
will love me as Your child in return.
Hidden Jesus, my
purest love,
My life with You
has begun already here on earth,
And it will become
fully manifest in the eternity to come,
Because our mutual
love will never change.
Hidden Jesus, sole
desire of my soul,
You alone are to me
more than the delights of heaven.
My soul searches
for You only, who are above all gifts and graces,
You who come to me
under the form of bread.
Hidden Jesus, take
at last to Yourself my thirsting heart
Which burns for You
with the pure fire of the Seraphim.
I go through life
in Your footsteps, invincible,
With head held
high, like a knight, feeble maid though I be.
1668 The
Resurrection. Before the Mass of the Resurrection, I felt so weak that I lost
all hope of participating in the procession which takes place in the church;
and I said to the Lord, "Jesus, if my prayers are pleasing to You, give
me the strength for this moment that I may take part in the procession."
At that same instant, I felt strong and certain that I could go along with
the sisters in the procession.
1702 Towards the end of the Way of the
Cross which I was making, the Lord Jesus began to complain about the souls of
religious and priests, about the lack of love in chosen souls. I will allow convents and churches
to be destroyed. I answered, "Jesus, but there are so
many souls praising You in convents." The Lord answered, That praise wounds My Heart, because
love has been banished from convents. Souls without love and without
devotion, souls full of egoism and self-love, souls full of pride and arrogance,
souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have just enough
warmth to keep them alive: My Heart cannot bear this. All the graces that I
pour out upon them flow off them as off the face of a rock. I cannot stand
them, because they are neither good or bad. I called convents into being to
sanctify the world through them. It is from them that a powerful flame of
love and sacrifice should burst forth. And if they do not repent and become
enkindled by their first love, I will deliver them over to the fate of this
world...
How can they sit on the promised throne of judgment to judge the world, when their guilt is greater than the guilt of the world? There is neither penance nor atonement. O heart, which received Me in the morning and at noon are all ablaze with hatred against Me, hatred of all sorts! O heart specially chosen by Me, were you chosen for this, to give Me more pain? The great sins of the world are superficial wounds on My Heart, but the sins of a chosen soul pierce My Heart through and through...
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-205, 306, 413)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-649-650, 697, 699)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-III-1067, 1141)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-V-1427)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1668, 1702)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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