Daily Catholic Mass Readings for November 25, 2017
First Reading: 1 Maccabees 6.1-13
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Psalm 9
1I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.2I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.3When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.4For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.5You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.6The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.7But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,8and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.9The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.10And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.11Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!12For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.13Be gracious to me, O LORD! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death,14that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.15The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid their own foot has been caught.16The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah17The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.18For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.19Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!20Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
Gospel: Luke 20.27-40
27There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,28and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.29Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children.30And the second31and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.32Afterward the woman also died.33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife."34And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,35but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,36for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.38Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him."39Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well."40For they no longer dared to ask him any question.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter two distinct narratives that invite us to reflect on the consequences of our actions and the promise of eternal life. The first reading from 1 Maccabees describes the downfall of King Antiochus, who, after attempting to desecrate the Temple in Jerusalem, is overcome with grief and regret. His suffering is a direct result of his own sinful actions, and he comes to realize the gravity of his mistakes. This passage reminds us that sin has consequences, but it also hints at the possibility of repentance and the hope for forgiveness.
In the Gospel, Jesus engages with the Sadducees, who question Him about the resurrection. Using the example of a woman who marries seven brothers, they seek to undermine the concept of an afterlife. Jesus responds by explaining that life in the resurrection is fundamentally different from earthly life. He emphasizes that those who are raised will live as children of God, free from death and sin. This teaching challenges us to reorient our priorities, recognizing that our ultimate destiny is not in this world but in the eternal life promised by God.
Together, these readings call us to examine our lives and our faith. Like King Antiochus, we must acknowledge our sins and turn to God with contrite hearts. And like the Sadducees, we are invited to deepen our understanding of the resurrection, not as a mere philosophical concept, but as the fulfillment of God’s promise to us. May we strive to live in a way that reflects our belief in eternal life, trusting that God’s love and mercy will guide us through the trials of this world to the joy of the next.