Daily Reflection – Nov 6, 2016
Sunday 6 November 2016
First Reading:
2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
Responsorial Psalm:
Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full
Psalm 16(17):1, 5-6, 8, 15
Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Gospel Reading: Luke 20:27-38
Today’s Note: Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Reading:
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,
came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers;
the first married a woman but died childless.
Then the second and the third married her,
and likewise all the seven died childless.
Finally the woman also died.
Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them,
“The children of this age marry and remarry;
but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age
and to the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given in marriage.
They can no longer die,
for they are like angels;
and they are the children of God
because they are the ones who will rise.
That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,
when he called out ‘Lord,’
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.”
Reflection:
The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
In the story of Cain and Abel, before Cain goes forward with his plan to kill his brother, God warns him not to let this evil desire have mastery over him (Genesis 4:7). Cain didn’t have to give in to this temptation. God was right there, ready to help him and strengthen him. Sadly, we know what happened.
When we think about sin, we usually think about our personal sins. We don’t often think of the temptations that are behind our choices to commit sins. But temptation is a very effective tool that the devil wields against us, and we need to be on guard against it.
Sometimes, temptation can feel like an insistent hammering that beats us into submission. Over and over again, the evil one whispers lies to us. He tempts us by telling us that there is nothing wrong with violating God’s commands. If we give an opening to these sinful suggestions, they will sway us to commit sins.
Other times, Satan uses a more subtle technique. He tells us that we have too much work to do, too many errands to run, and too many important responsibilities. By the end of the day, we’re just too tired or too distracted to spend time with the Lord. Consequently, without even knowing it, we have become spiritually weak. We have let our guard down and have become more vulnerable to the devil’s temptations.
But we are a new creation in Christ! We don’t have to give in to temptation. We don’t have to follow in Cain’s footsteps. The secret is to pray and ask Jesus for his spiritual strength to help us say no to temptation. He is a generous God, and he will give us the grace we need to resist.
May we never again let a day go by without spending time with Jesus and asking him for heavenly strength.
“Lord, I need you today. Come and strengthen me against temptation.”
