33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

There comes a time in life where we need to make a major decision. Some would call that a fundamental decision, one which you would stick to no matter what. What decision do we need to make? A decision to choose God and build one's relationship with Him, or to choose the world and all it has to offer. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24)." Perhaps some may say that such a decision requires less thought. After all, who wouldn't want to be with God? However, choosing to be with God has its consequences. Are we ready and willing to face such consequences?

Choosing God means we cannot just be, as the Second Reading tells us, "living in idleness, doing no work themselves but interfering with everyone else’s." Building relationship with God requires much hard work, perseverance, and sacrifices. The Gospel reminds us that "men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives."

In the face of such challenges, are we determined, unflinching and enthusiastic in our resolve to choose God? Or could some of us be tempted by the ways of the world and fall away? Certainly being a Catholic is not easy, but the rewards if we endure to the end are out of this world.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

As humans, we all experience some form of suffering in our lives. Some mothers suffer throughout their pregnancy due to cramps, morning sickness, and even at childbirth. Babies often suffer growing pains as they move from infant, to toddler, to beyond. There are people who constantly suffer migraine, depression, and other ailments which do not seem to go away. When these sufferings occur, some of us may begin to question: why is this happening? Is God punishing us?

We begin to think that good people enjoy life and bad people suffer. Along with this thought, we begin to think that we must have said or done something wrong or bad to have caused us to suffer. However, today's first reading tells us that this is not true. The seven brothers suffered terribly even though they were good people. Why did God allow them to suffer? Why didn't God rescue them?

Trying to find an answer to why suffering occurs is not easy. We try to explain it away, only to find that the answer is not complete, not satisfactory, not acceptable. Many learned people have in the past tried to find a good answer, only to discover that there is really no suitable answer. Just as God is a mystery, suffering is also a mystery, and a mystery is something which is slowly being revealed and points us to a greater truth.

However, we Catholics have faith in the resurrection and that helps us understand that suffering is not permanent and death is not the end. We trust that God promises life and not death, and we believe that He will care for us and raise us up. Thus, let us continue to place our hope and trust in our loving God, for as the Gospel reminds us: "He is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to Him all men are in fact alive."