This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
32nd Sunday of Ordinary TimeSuper life with Super God!IIMc7:1-2, 9-14 IIThes2:16—3:5 Lk 20:27-38Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus, we gather as a loving and faithful community of our Lord in this special month of November. We remember our deceased beloved ones in this month following the tradition of the Church. We bring forth their memory as we pray for them at the altar of God. It is very meaningful that we unite our thoughts of our loved ones with the thoughts of the Eucharistic Lord. We should be proud of our call to witness to one living Jesus, one faith and one Eucharistic fraternal community. What is the difference between Superman and Batman? To this question, Alex, a tiny boy, responded, “Batman loses his power but Superman always possesses his power.” If we observe our children and teenagers, we see that they are occupied with these destructive and violent video games. They spend their time trying to prove that their character of choice is the most powerful. Few persons who work in this animated sports field believe in life after death. The scriptures of today invite us to believe, to look forward, and to celebrate our life eternal.Persecutions broke out soon after the ascension of the Jesus. Christians were thrown to hungry animals, pushed into fire and nailed to the cross. Nothing could stop their faith and proclamation. Christians grew in large numbers because our faith does not end with death, rather life continues. Super life after death continues with super God. Crusades, world wars, revolutions and now ISIS cannot stop our journey towards the God of the living to His home. Last year 2015, Jan 21, Egyptian Coptic Christians were brutally killed by ISIS Islamic state in Libya. After being captured they were asked to deny their Christian faith. They refused three times. They were beheaded and while they were being killed, the last word on their lips was, “Jesus.” Jesus, the God of the living. It was learned later that only 20 of the 21 were Christian. The 21st person was a co-worker, but not a Christian. He said, “Their God is my God, their faith is my faith. I am not losing my life rather joining with the living God.” One of the victim’s (Zaky) mother said, "I thank God that my son kept the faith and died for the cross, because he was the son of Christ from his birth, not my son." We can understand the voluntary dying of brothers in the first reading in the light of Christians being killed all over the world. This event took place in the 2nd century BC. Persians left the Jews from the Babylonian exile to Judea as free people to rebuild Jerusalem. Alexander defeated the Persians, forcing the Greek-Hellenistic culture, faith and tradition. After Alexander’s death their empire divided. Pagan ruler Antiochus (175-163 BC) wanted to abolish Jewish religion, the Jerusalem temple and force the Jews to follow pagan belief and god. Antiochus forced the people to follow the Greek culture, religion and language. A statue of the Greek god, Zeus, was placed in the Jerusalem temple, sacrifices were offered, and the people were forced to abandon mosaic law. Some opted to follow pagan culture and gods due to fear for their life and some were struggling to give away the long traditions and beliefs of their ancestors which had a great history. Here the life of this wonderful family of faith challenged rulers, persecutors and the Jews in dilemma. The words of brothers willingly embracing death proved how strong their faith was in front of death and burning fire. Their witness to the God of the living and the God of life stunned the others. Three of the brothers speak, and each of them finds strength in the belief that he will eventually be raised by God. One says, “You may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up.” Another says that he hopes to receive his severed limbs again in heaven. The fourth son also says that he is “relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by Him. We will never deny our faith because it is equal to denying our ancestors, who taught us, lived this faith and are waiting for us in God’s house.” The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection and life after death. They denied angels and spirits. They practiced freewill, not the providence of God. They controlled the temple worship. They believed only in the Torah as a religious and political group. The Pharisees were only a religious group; they followed Torah and traditional practices, too. The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus, the new Moses. They wanted Jesus to say that His teaching and preaching was opposed to Mosaic Law. So, they gave the practice of marrying the brother-in-law after the husband’s death (as widows did not earn anything nor were they paid anything). There was no mention of life after death. Jesus paints a picture of heaven where there is only life of fullness and joy without any differences. The Sadducees were not willing to listen and learn as they did not believe in a messiah or angels. Jesus mentioned the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob and the God of Isaac. It was to show that they were alive when Moses was leading the people of Israel, because their God is the God of the living, with fullness of life. God said to Moses from the burning bush, "I am the God of your Fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob" (Ex 3:1-6). Since God claims to be God of the patriarchs, we have the phrase at the end of the gospel, “all live to him.” This means on earth and in heaven we live through, in and with Him. “Those who had died would be raised so that they too could receive their due reward.” (Daniel: 12:2 [165 BC]). “I am ready to meet my maker” is the epitaph on Winston Churchill’s tomb. “I am touching Jesus,” were the words of St. John Paul II in his last days of pain and suffering. When former soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev of the USSR died after 18 years of strong communist rule, his wife Mrs. Natalia was standing near his coffin, silent and motionless. When they soldiers lifted the lid to close the coffin, she made a courageous gesture of faith and hope. She went near and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest. Here, the wife of the leader who was trying to prove the atheistic power, believed and witnessed that her husband was wrong and that there is life in God alone and always. “One who is scared to die has not begun to live”. Let our life reveal that our God is full of life and eternal. Every time we profess, “I believe in the resurrection and life everlasting,” we are called to work, to pray, and to relate, foreseeing that there is super life with super God waiting for us-Amen. 
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