HOMILY FOR SATURDAY DAY OF THE 33RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
THEME: In God all men are alive
SAINT OF THE DAY: Optional Memorial of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr.
By: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA
READINGS OF THE DAY
1 Maccabees 6:1-13
Psalm 9:2-4,6,16,19
Luke 20:27-40
LITURGICAL COLOUR
GREEN
INTRODUCTION
Good morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Saturday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time, Year A. And at the same time we commemorate the Optional Memorial of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr.
FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
In today’s gospel passage Jesus has an encounter with the Sadducees. The Sadducee is a politico-religious sect of the Jews whose name is derived from tsaddiqim, which means, the righteous. The name is associated with the proper name “Sadoc”, the high-priest who was prominent in the times of Kings David and Solomon (1Kings 1:8, 26, 32). They assumed reference to the adherence of the letter of the Law as opposed to the pharisaic attention to the superadded traditions of the elders.
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WHY DID THE SADDUCEES BECAME UNPOPULAR TO THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME?
Sadducees became unpopular with majority of the people because of their tendency to side closely with the ruling power, the Roman government. While the patriotic and exclusive Pharisees became more and more the leaders of the people. Among the religious differences between the two parties could be: the Sadducees’ denial of the resurrection, the immortality of the soul and the existence of angels (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18; Acts 23:8). They rejected likewise the oral traditions which the Pharisees maintained and emphasized as a divinely ordained supplement to the written law. That is why they obviously made fun of this belief of resurrection by posing an argument saying: “At the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.”
WHY THE SADDUCEES DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD?
The Sadducees were an exclusive group made up of the cream of Jewish society: the wealthy, the aristocrats and the priestly class. For them, if ever there is an afterlife, it is simply a glorified continuation of earthly life. But Jesus answered the question by saying that Moses also wrote that when God manifests his presence to Moses in the burning bush, the Lord tells him that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (Exodus 3:6).
CONCLUSION
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded of all these so that we do not end up being obsessed and attached too much to the worldly matters and pursuits, for worldly pleasures, fame, power, glory and all other things that we often look for in this world, and then ending up forgetting our purpose and intention in following and serving the Lord our God. We are all reminded that all the glory and power, wealth and possessions we have in this world are temporary and do not last forever. Hence, we should focus and redirect our attention to the Lord, turn towards Him and commit ourselves to His cause, instead of being distracted by the many temptations of the world that are usually present all around us.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria,Virgin and Martyr, Pray For Us.
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