SATURDAY OF THE THIRTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, NOVEMBER 25, 2023

MASS READINGS:

Gospel Lk 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." Some of the scribes said in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

REFLECTION

And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

I know if I want to dance, I need to move my two feet. If I want to sing, I have to learn to read the notes and take voice lessons. If I want to play an instrument, I need to practice and pray to St Cecilia for intervention. There are some, who with a little knowledge, speak as if they know a lot. Some are puffed up with pride and refuse to ask for assistance. They would rather go down with the sinking ship than to ask for help or, unfortunately, allow someone else to go down in flames rather than to help or correct them.

In ignorance one can make fun, demean, patronize or ignore the person (s) who may make a difference in their lives. And sometimes the ignorant knows nothing of the topic and they become the "fool", realizing way too late such as King Antiochus in Maccabees in his pending death, that they are mental midgets when sparring with God.

The Sadducees in the Gospel did not believe in the Resurrection and life after death. They were not wanting to learn but hoping to entrap Jesus. And Jesus answered their flippant question by citing the Sacred Scriptures, that there is no death in heaven, no marriage and no need for procreation.

I cannot imagine no heaven, no Resurrection, no life everlasting. If I stay united with God, follow His commandments and instructions, at the end of all my labors, I pray I listened well, trusted with no hesitancy and will find a resting place for my heart in God.

God bless You.