Breaking the Word

33^rd Week in Ord. Time, Saturday – 19^th November 2022 — Gospel: Lk 20,27-40

Transcending Earthly Life

Perceiving what lay behind the question of Sadducees, Jesus answered them in their own terms; but at the same time, he sought to raise their minds to heavenly truths. Consequently, he first presented a summary statement of his teachings, as rabbis traditionally did. To support his teaching, Jesus quoted the Torah itself (Ex 3,6), the only authority the Sadducees would accept. This implies the continuing personal existence of those with whom God remains in relationship. Then Jesus answered, that the Father not only gives life on earth, but he sustains and even transforms life of each one beyond the grave. The relationship God seeks to forge with human beings here and now is one that transcends death. As sons and daughters of the resurrection, we can experience the same life Jesus has, free from death and alive to God (Rom 6,5-11). This is a new life, which transcends the earthly life, is given to those who are united with Jesus in faith and baptized in his death.

33^rd Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 18^th November 2022 — Gospel:    Lk 19,45-48

Resistance or Openness

As God’s Messiah, Jesus takes possession of the temple, seeking to cleanse it from impurities and declaring what it should be. Jesus first cites Isaiah, expressing the divine hope that the temple will be “a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is 56,7). He contrasts what the temple should have been, a house of prayer for Israelites and foreigners; and what it has become, a commercial centre to benefit the powerful priestly aristocracy. Jesus then cites Jeremiah, condemning those who have made the temple “a den of robbers” (Jer 7,11). The religious leaders have become robbers, enriching themselves from the temple worship. Through this prophetic action, Jesus symbolically expresses his protest of those who would use God’s temple for profit rather than prayer. He upholds his preference for relationship with God through prayer.  For this reason, the religious leaders sought a way to put Jesus to death. They immediately dismissed him as a radical and fanatic, without just reason.  On the other hand, his listeners, however, were amazed by Jesus and hung on his every word.