1 Maccabees 6:3-13 / Luke 20:27-40
The ambition of man can be so astounding and amazing, and can even have no bounds.
Man has even gone out of his world and gone to the moon and even explored the solar system.
Yet he may have gone so far out of himself that he may not be able to see what is so near and so important to him.
In the 1st reading, we heard how king Antiochus had great ambitions in his military campaigns.
But when everything fell apart, he also fell into a lethargy from acute disappointment and melancholy until he understood that he was dying.
He regretted the wrong he did, especially the wrong he did to God in Jerusalem. He regretted, but was it too late?
We too have our ambitions in life and plans for the future. But are these plans just about the future or are they about eternity?
As Jesus said in the gospel, God, is not God of the dead, but of the living.
If our lives and our plans are all just about ourselves, then we may not know who the God of the living is.
King Antiochus is showing us a very important lesson today. Don't wait till it is too late and end up regretting. Because it might be for eternity.