33RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Blessed Virgin Mary / St. Andrew
Dung-Lac, priest & Companions, martyrs
Psalter: Week 1 / (Red/White)
Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
1st Reading: Rev 11:4-12*
These are the two olive trees, and the two lamps, which are before the Lord of the earth. If anyone intends to harm them, fire will come out of their mouths to devour their enemies: this is how whoever intends to harm them will perish. They have the power to close the sky and hold back the rain during the time of their prophetic mission; they also have the power to change water into blood, and punish the earth, with a thousand plagues, any time they wish.
But when my witnesses have fulfilled their mission, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war upon them and will conquer and kill them. Their dead bodies will lie in the square of the great city, which the believers figuratively call Sodom, or Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. (…) Then, the inhabitants of the earth will rejoice, congratulate one another and exchange gifts among themselves, because these two prophets were a torment to them.
But after those three and a half days, a spirit of life, coming from God, entered them. They, then, stood up, and those who looked at them were seized with great fear. A loud voice from heaven called them, “Come up here.” So they went up to heaven, in the midst of the clouds, in the sight of their enemies.
Gospel: Lk 20:27-40
Then some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection, and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the law Moses told us, ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and any child born to them will be regarded as the child of the deceased.’ Now, there were seven brothers: the first married, but died without children. The second married the woman, but also died childless. And then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife.”
And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.
Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to him everyone is alive.”
Some teachers of the law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, you have spoken well.” They didn’t dare ask him anything else.
Reflections
Jesus argues with Sadducees. They are anti-resurrection. They understood this world to be the only world in which God would act and share his blessings and promises. For them it is a case of either-or. They approach Jesus with a case meant to make resurrection look ridiculous. Jesus brushes them off by saying that with afterlife, God does not use our neat categories about marriage but freedom from all kinds of human-made barriers and conditions. In the next scene, some scribes (presumably Pharisees, surely believers in both justice and resurrection) appear and warmly approve of Jesus’ wisdom, and with that, all questioning ends. Life after death is a completely different realm. We simply do not have the ability to envision it. It is far beyond us. It definitely will not be like this world. However, if we live our life in a loving and whole-hearted way, we need not be worried about what is waiting for us on “the other side.” What matters is life before death. We can begin to live fully, justly and harmoniously our relationships here and now. Acts of charity and mercy are our utmost concerns and by doing so, we live the power of the resurrection in the present life.
Daily Reflection 2018
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