32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14 | Psalm 16(17):1,5-6,8,15 | 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 | Luke 20:27-38
At some point in my faith journey, I heard someone expound on how to differentiate between the Sadducees and Pharisees:
The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, so they were sad, you see.
But the Pharisees did, so in the Sadducees’ eyes, they as good as believed in fairies, see?
Corny, but it got the point across.
History tells us that the Sadducees disappeared after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem around 70 A.D., but their belief in “dead means dead” still lives on today, particularly in the people who live like there’s No Tomorrow.
You’ve probably seen them, the “me, myself and I” cadre, who are willing to do whatever it takes (and climb however many bodies lie in their way) to acquire their hearts’ desires, who brook no interference in their life of hedonism because they have only One Life to Live.
You might even have realized that some of them are Catholic…though also being careful not to call attention to their state of hypocrisy.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
As Catholics, we believe that our life doesn’t end in death; we’re just trading our bodies of dust in for brilliant forms of light. In TV production terms, we believe that our actions in each episode of our yearly seasons greatly influence our storyline going forward, and especially whether our series ends in a glorious revival or fiery car crash oblivion.
Alas, we tend to assume that our on-screen time will last…well, a very long time, and we’ll receive enough warning that we’re getting cancelled, so that we can make-up for all our sins before our series finale.
Of course, as the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21) reminds us, that’s not very likely.
So As the World Turns, let us be Touched by an Angel, and not act like Desperate Housewives. Otherwise, as the Days of Our Lives draw to a close, we may find ourselves face to face with Lucifer.
Let us live our lives in love, not in a soap opera.
Amen.