Saturday, 33rd Week in Ordinary Time
“He is not God of the dead, but of the living…”
One of the most important teachings of Jesus is the resurrection of the dead. This teaching encourages the disciples to take Jesus’ words to heart. There is a great reward for believing and living the words of Jesus. The God of Jesus Christ is the God of life, the God of the living. Our God is the God of the living.
Nil Guillemette, in one of his gospel commentaries, says, “If God loves someone, it is forever, and he cannot allow that someone to die without afterwards rising from death.” That is why our hope of resurrection cannot be separated from our faith in God who loves us. To deny the resurrection would amount to lacking greatness, density, and esteem in faith to the living and true God. If we believe in God, then we must hope for a better life – a more abundant life. If we believe in God, then we must have confidence in his love – that it will go on to the next life. If we believe in God, then we must trust that we will remain alive in his presence.
Faith in the resurrection must be translated into a commitment to promote and defend life, and to bring new life in the midst of death. It means: becoming an instrument of healing where there is sickness; mending broken hearts and restoring broken lives; standing up for justice where there is oppression and suppression; fighting for human dignity where there is dehumanizing poverty; promoting wellbeing where there is misery, suffering, and sadness; working for peace where there is violence, cruelty, and terrorism; fostering a sense of community where there is discord and division; bringing hope where there is despair and hopelessness. If we really believe that our God is the God of the living, the God of the resurrection of the dead, then we must become messengers of life, living in joyful hope for our resurrection.
Our faith and hope in the resurrection must not be confined to the afterlife. And our faith and hope in the resurrection must be coupled with our efforts to make it relevant and meaningful, here and now. We believe that the God who will raise us from the dead is the same God who raises us to life now. The God who will give us the fullness of life after death is the same God who has given us the life we possess now. Because our God is the God of the living.
Parokya ni Osong 