32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
First Reading (2 Mac 7, 1 – 2, 9 – 14)
It came to pass also, that seven brethren, together with their mother, were apprehended, and compelled by the king to eat swine’s flesh against the law, for which end they were tormented with whips and scourges. But one of them, who was the eldest, said thus: What would you ask, or learn of us? We are ready to die, rather than to transgress the laws of God, received from our fathers. At the point of death he said : You indeed, O most wicked man, destroy us out of this present life: but the King of the world will raise us up, who die for his laws, in the resurrection of eternal life.
After him the third was made a mocking stock, and when he was required, he quickly put forth his tongue, and courageously stretched out his hands: And said with confidence : These I have from heaven, but for the laws of God I now despise them, because I hope to receive them again from him. So that the king, and they that were with him, wondered at the young man’s courage, because he esteemed the torments as nothing. And after he was thus dead, they tormented the fourth in the like manner. And when he was now ready to die, he spoke thus: It is better, being put to death by men, to look for hope from God, to be raised up again by him; for, as for you, you shall have no resurrection unto life.
Second Reading(2 Thes 2, 16 – 3, 5)
Brothers and sisters : May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
The Gospel (Lk 20, 27, 34 – 38)
Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”