Daily Catholic Mass Readings for November 25, 2023
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, when considered together, offer profound insights into the nature of faith, mortality, and the divine. The first reading from 1 Maccabees presents King Antiochus, who, having suffered defeat and grief, begins to recognize the errors of his ways. His sorrow leads him to reflect on the injustices he perpetrated, particularly against the people of Jerusalem. This narrative highlights the human capacity for repentance and the consequences of one's actions, even for those in power.
The Gospel from Luke shifts our focus to a theological debate about the resurrection. The Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, pose a complex question to Jesus regarding marriage in the afterlife. Jesus responds by transcending the earthly bounds of marriage, explaining that in the age to come, we will be like angels, free from death's grasp. He underscores the reality of the resurrection by invoking Moses and the burning bush, where God identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are alive in His presence.
These readings invite us to reflect on our own mortality and the hope of eternal life. King Antiochus's story reminds us that even in the midst of sorrow and defeat, there is an opportunity for repentance and a return to God. Jesus's teaching challenges us to look beyond the limitations of this world and to trust in God's promise of resurrection. As we navigate the challenges of our daily lives, let us hold fast to the hope that our true home is with God, where sorrow and death will no longer have dominion. May we live in such a way that our hearts are aligned with God's will, and may we always remember that we are children of the resurrection, destined for eternal life with Him.