THE RESURRECTION FAITH AS AN EFFICACIOUS RESPONSE TO THE PUZZLE OF EVIL AND HUMAN SUFFERING

HOMILY FOR THE 32^ND SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR, C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:54-55).

Our daily life is filled with very many experiences that make us cry and lament. Where and when can we actually find an answer that can totally clarify the problems associated with the earthly existence? Many have experienced hardship all their life. Many have been sick for several years. Many experience unjust treatments from others. Many are denied justice. Many are ridiculed due to their quest for righteousness. Many are brutally killed. Many are robbed of their precious things and persons. The righteous suffer in the hands of people who disregard the good. Many characters have been assassinated in one way or the other. Many are denied of their life goals due to corruption and nepotism. Many are subjected under slavery due to their past life. Many are abused and tortured for firmness in their belief. We tend to ask: where is God in the face of these experiences? I would not know the experience that you remember as you read this, but what I am sure as a Christian is that there is a time when God will be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28). The Christian faith in the Resurrection is a sure answer to these puzzles that bewilder the human mind and experiences. This we see in the readings of today.

“...but the king of the universe will raise us to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws” (First Reading).

“...God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace...” (Second Reading).

“...for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” (Gospel).

These words are excerpts from the three readings of today. These words point to the state of life beyond our earthly life.

There are some similarities between the First Reading and the Gospel. Both readings speak about seven brothers who died. Both accounts have a woman that the seven brothers share in common. Inherent in these similarities are the differences. In the First, the seven brothers suffered martyrdom for their faith, whereas in the Gospel, the seven brothers died of an unknown cause. In the First, the woman shared by the brothers is their mother who also suffered martyrdom (cf. 2 Mac. 7:40), whereas in the Gospel, the woman is their wife who also died (no cause mentioned) like any other.

The First Reading concerns the Maccabean revolt against rules and lifestyles that are not in tandem with the Jewish laws. Between 167 and 151 BC, the kings of Syria in a bid to unify their empire wanted to stamp out the Jewish way of life. They succeeded in other nations but found strong opposition among the Jews. This opposition was led by Mattathias and his sons, a priestly family from a small village that soon became known as the Maccabees (hammers). They demonstrated reckless courage and faith in the unfailing help of their God. It soon became clear to the champions of the law that political independence was a necessary condition of religious freedom.  This is the context of the revolt of the First Reading. The king compelled the seven brothers to eat the flesh of swine which is unlawful for the Jews (cf. Deut.14:8). Their refusal to such a rule brought them death. They died for their faith. But what was this their faith? It is faith in the resurrection. Faith in the resurrection is one that tells us that life does not end here on earth. It is faith that informs us that when we die for the sake of righteousness, God rewards us with his beatific vision in heaven. The words of the dying brothers are words of encouragement to the suffering Christian. They are words of admonition to the Christians that are undergoing torture, persecution, injustice, and ostracization. Yes, our adversaries and persecutors may think that they are dismissing us from this present, but the king of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life. He offers us eternal comfort (2 Thess. 2:16-3:5). When we stand on the enigma to choose between obedience to evil men and to God, the resurrection faith is there to make the option very light for us. The fourth son said: one cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by Him.

The Gospel (Luke 20:27-38) provides us with the type of existence experienced by those who have died for the sake of God. Jesus used the opportunity of the indeed ridiculous exemplification of the Sadducees to teach us a very important item of our faith. Those who attain to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels, and are sons of God being sons of the resurrection. The resurrection initiates a novum (newness). It can never be the type of life we live. This novum comes with the future that really counts for man, and not the type that countless. However, we do not try to subdue the importance of such futures that deal with the life of man here on earth; a future which is planable, projectable, predictable, and virtually present in the dynamic presence of the actual moment. The future which offers this total novelty is not planable or projectable or foreseeable (who will be the wife?) and not evolutive (for they will not be known by their marriage status). This future is an absolute future beyond which no other future exists. It is this future that we are tended to. We are beings towards this future. We are bound to this future. So, as children whose future is bound with God, we must be courageous enough to endure the uncertainties of the present life.

1. The faith in the resurrection animates and strengthens Christians in their struggle against evil and its effects of pain in our experiences in life. Evil is shown as that which, in spite of its weight and thickness, cannot manage to ultimately triumph over man. In spite of what we see in history and what we experience, evil can never be victorious at the end.

2. The faith in the resurrection helps us to have something to say, definitively and reasonably, about the misfortune of the human existence of suffering which goes hand in hand with and is most related to the ultimate misfortune of death –the absolute form of evil.

3. With the resurrection faith, pain and death cease to be the last word. Life comes to triumph over death. Good triumphs over evil. Justice triumphs over injustice. Joy triumphs over suffering. We may suffer now; we may die now; but suffering and death have no last word on us. Death must be swallowed up in victory. Then can we ask: O death, where is your victory; where is your sting?

Yes, I believe that after suffering glory comes. I believe that after sowing comes reaping. I believe that after work rest comes. Indeed, I believe in the resurrection. I believe that the bones shall rise again. If a seed I sowed at the beginning of the rainy season can grow and produce fruits, after having decayed, why must I not believe too that even though our bodies may die and decay, that there will certainly be a body which is entirely new; which is totally a novum. This is the resurrected body; that body worn by Christ during the transfiguration event. Am sure too that you believe in what I believe. Hence, if you do, can I hear you shout I believe!!! I wish you a blessed week ahead. God bless you.