Sunday 32nd Week (C) in Ordinary Time ..."He is God of the living and not of the dead, and for him all are alive"

Today's Gospel (Lk 20:27-38):
Some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection and they asked Jesus this question, «Master, in the Scripture Moses told us: ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and the child to be born will be regarded as the child of the deceased man’.

Now, there were seven brothers; the first married a wife, but he died without children; and the second and the third took the wife; in fact 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 wife? For the seven had her as wife».

And Jesus replied, «Taking husband or 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 too are sons and daughters of God because they are born of the resurrection.

Yes, the dead will be raised, and even Moses implied it in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For he is God of the living and not of the dead, and for him all are alive».


Meditations:
Today, Jesus makes it clear his claim about resurrection and eternal life. Sadducees doubted, or even worse, they ridiculed the belief in eternal life after death, which was defended —instead— by the Pharisees and we also defend it.

The question the Sadducees asked to Jesus «On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be wife? For the seven had her as wife?» (Lk 20:33) let us catch sight of a possessive sort of juridical mindset, demanding proprietary rights over a person.

Furthermore, the trap set up for Jesus raises an equivocal still existing today: imagining eternal life as an extension, after death, of the earthen existence. Heaven would, thus, consist of the transposition of the beautiful things we now enjoy. But, «it is only too evident that —on the basis of man's experience and knowledge in the temporality— it is difficult to build a fully adequate image of the “future world”» (John Paul II).

To believe in eternal life is one thing, but to imagine what it will be like is another thing altogether different. When a mystery is not surrounded by respect and discretion, it risks being trivialized by curiosity and, finally, ridiculed.

Jesus' answer has two parts. In the first one, He tries to make clear that the marriage institution has no reason to be in the other life: «those who are considered worthy of the world to come and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage» (Lk 20:35). What does persists and reaches its maximum fullness is whatever we have sowed in this world as far as authentic love, friendship, fraternity, justice and truth... are concerned.

The second part of the answer leaves two certitudes with us: «For he is God of the living and not of the dead» (Lk 20:38). To trust in this God means to realize we are meant to be alive. And being alive consists of being with Him in a continuous manner, forever.

Furthermore, «and for him all are alive» (Lk 20:38): God is the source of life. The believer, submerged in God through the Baptism, has been able to escape forever from the clutches of death.

Join me in my prayer as I say:
Lord , You gave me the Good News to console me when I am in trouble, to replace my confusion with peace. Your Word brings light to my darkness.

But Lord, I know that the Gospel is there, to trouble me when my life has become too comfortable.

The Gospel can also serve to give me discomfort when life has become too easy, to shake me out of my smugness; to prick my pleasurable liefstyle.

My well equipped life; my access to money; my nice and branded stylish clothes; my beautiful house; my access to popular vices; these can sometimes make me forget that not all people are blessed as I am.

Lord, let me share not only from my abundance but from my substance.

Let me share not only from the tip of my wallet but from the back of my wallet. Lord, I want to share not only my extra but also what is essential to me.

Lord, help me to learn how to share. Help me to become a blessing for other people. Help me to defend the innocent, the lost, the children, the weak and the oppressed. Lord, my liffe is too comfortable. My life is too easy. There is always food on the table.

Lord, I want to be ready... I want to be willing to take up Your Cross, to offer some sacrifice....to follow You....Amen.