Ordinary Time 32nd Sun C (Fr Francis)

 
            With just a week before exams, some of us have probably been feeling the anxiety of prepping for them, most of us are a bit worried. We all know how cruel teachers can be, I once had a history teacher who gave a 250-question true and false exam with all the answers being false. There is even a teacher here who, on a quiz about Exodus, asked them if God saved the Israelites in the dessert to see if the students were paying attention. Only one student got it. Boy did those guys get mad at me.
 
            As a priest, there is one thing I love about exam week, it is the time when most students pray. Praying is wonderful, we should do it daily, it helps us come closer to God, relieves stress and helps us come to know Him better; however, when it comes to tests God is not very likely to perform a miracle on a person who hasn’t studied. Knowledge of the subject is much more effective in bringing about favorable outcomes. This, of course, seems obvious as you have been flooded with information this term; you have had to decipher it, filter it, categorize it and put in into a schema you think makes it understandable in such a way that you can relate it back to others, who at this time, are primarily your teachers.
          But knowledge also requires one to be open minded and open hearted.  There was one point in your life when you thought Santa was real but then came a point when you had to address the painful reality that what you once held so dear is actually false. Sometimes our entire belief systems can be destroyed by new knowledge but most often, we are building upon foundations we have; we see this in subjects like languages, history, science etc. In a week, we are going to see just how well we handled this process of knowledge acquirement and management. The bottom line is this: we need to have knowledge in this life and the better we learn and more know the truly better our lives will be.
 
            Exam, final papers and projects are honestly really helpful at preparing us for life because the tests we face as adults are very serious with grave consequences and this is situation we find ourselves in in our three readings this morning.
          Our Second Reading is from the second letter St. Paul sent to the Thessalonians and is one of the oldest books in the New Testament. Paul was writing to a community that had severe test anxiety. They had embraced Christianity readily and fervently but made one mistake, they thought that Jesus’ return was coming soon and were worried that those who died before Christ came back would lose their chance for salvation. They are pretty stressed out, but St. Paul tells them this is a minor mistake and that the faithful departed will be fine, but our other two readings are much direr.
          The 7 Jewish brothers in our first reading are living in a nation oppressed by Greek invaders who demand compliance with Greek religious practices and the brothers have to decide if they are going to do what they know to be right which means they not only will be killed but also have their brothers and mother tortured to death too. They had to do what they knew was right, not what felt right, not give in to what seemed an easy solution but accepting extreme suffering themselves even after seeing their loved ones being brutally tortured. They knew what they had to do. What are we willing to die and suffer for? What knowledge is there that is worth that price? It must be an incredible piece of knowledge.
          Jesus came to teach us that knowledge, and he had it rough too. The Sadducees were a priestly cast and the political/religious leaders of the Jewish authoritative body known as the Sanhedrin and worked closely with the Roman occupiers. They didn’t believe in the Resurrection which meant they thought God rewards us in this life and then it is all over. They thought they had an irrefutable test for Jesus proving their point and that is what we heard in today’s Gospel. Jesus proves them wrong, which is either the best or the worst thing you can do on a test. Jesus is correct which incurred the wrath of the Sadducees who will begin to plot his death. They didn’t get that what is being offered to us through Christ is a sharing in the indescribable love that exists within the Trinity: the love of God, that pure joy, that exists between them which is the greatest happiness, the greatest good we could ever have and that marriage is a means for getting it.
 
            Marriage is a good thing, in fact, it is sacred coming with its own sacrament because one of its purposes is for the spouses to help each other attain Heaven. The celibacy of priests and other religious is rooted in the knowledge that God is our ultimate goal and fulfillment. By remaining single now, we monks point to the future in Heaven where we are all fulfilled and completed by our union with God. Marriage is a good thing, a sacred thing, and children are a blessing from God; they are not easily given up unless one is given special grace AND a knowledge of God because knowledge compels us to excellence, no matter how difficult the challenges that creates.
 
          So, let’s work diligently this coming week to prepare ourselves for the ordeals that will come in the following one, and let’s not think we are facing the end of the world.  As a 53 years-old with 5 University Degrees, I can honestly say that I have never or extremely rarely used Algebra or Geometry, my History is rusty and I’ve lost most of my Greek BUT the skills they gave me in problem solving, the analytical skills they instill,  the importance of communication and openness they imparted upon me have helped immeasurably, giving me the confidence needed to search for what would make me truly happy. Happiness and joy is something few of us feel at this time of the academic year but what you were made for is wonderful, you have priceless value and dignity and, believe it or not, what get out of your exams can helping you now develop the crucial skills you need to know the truth, enthusiastically seek after it and experience the greatest joy achievable.