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The readings of this day do not speak easily to us in our culture. However, the thread running through them is relevant. It is: that there is life after death – eternal life - the resurrection. The first reading is from the Second book of Maccabees : 2 Macc7:1-2,9-14. It tells of the torture and death of a mother and her seven sons: gruesome, and not suitable for children, even in this shortened version. The first book of Maccabees is mainly history : this second book embellishes the bare bones of history with a gripping tale. It is vivid and has a message for people suffering persecution down the centuries: ‘No matter what happens, your life does not end at death.’ The Jewish belief in the after-life was not clear . They knew it was in God’s hands but there were no details. This is one of the few passages where ‘life after death’ is spelled out. However, it is not in the Jewish canon of sacred scriptures. The second reading 2 Thess 2:16- 3:5 from St Paul picks up the theme of being faithful in choosing what is good, as Jesus did. The gospel reading Luke 12:35-38 follows a debate between the Saducee group and Jesus about life after death. The question is hypothetical and meant to trick Jesus. He turns the hypothetical around. There is life after death – but not life as we know it. There is also a serious implication – that only those who live good lives will merit eternal life. This is modified in John 5: 28-29. All the dead will be raised but those who have chosen evil in their lives won’t be happy in this after-life. Jesus pointed out that God is the God of the living – the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses – up to the present. This was highlighted during the canonisation process for St Mary MacKillop. Catholics see Mary MacKillop as someone who chose good in her life, who tried her best to love God and neighbour, who was ‘good news’ for the poor. She has died – ‘gone before us’. She is in the ‘communion of saints’. We hope to join this happy group when we die. This means being faithful and persevering through hardship as Mary did, as Jesus did. Our belief and understanding of life after death has resonance today, though not all accept it. Rose Mary Kinne OP
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