Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 7, 2023
Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question to him, 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 and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled.”
Reflection
As a newlywed, I was struck by two thoughts after reading today’s gospel. First, I am an only child, so I’m unsure who would have taken care of my wife in Old Testament Israel if I died. Second, I love my wife immensely and can’t imagine being in heaven without her.
Upon reflecting on this gospel passage more thoroughly, I returned to a point made by Fr. Luschen—the pastor at my ACE school in Oklahoma City. In a homily, he said there are moments in life when the realms of heaven and earth intersect.
Fr. Luschen spoke about glimpsing heaven on earth when we experience the beauty of nature, when a bride-to-be walks down the aisle surrounded by her loved ones,and when parents celebrate the birth of a newborn.
Similarly, we experience heaven in a real way through the sacraments. As Pope Benedict XVI said, “With the Eucharist, therefore, heaven comes down to earth, the tomorrow of God descends into the present, and it is as if time remains embraced by divine eternity.” Marriage, like the Eucharist, is a divine gift that allows us to experience the reality of heaven on earth.
The gift of our marriages, family relationships, and friendships are not dissolved in the afterlife; rather, they are transfigured. When we enter the afterlife, we are like “angels in heaven.”
As Father Ranerio Cantalemssa, an Italian Priest and Cardinal, put it: “Marriage does not come to a complete end at death but is transfigured, spiritualized, freed from the limits that mark life on earth…life is transformed, not taken away.”
May our marriages, our family relationships, and our friendships lead us to heaven, where those very relationships will be transfigured and sanctified through the love of God.
Prayer
Almighty Father, you are the living God. May we always revere you and look to you as our help. Guide us always so that one day we come to share in the everlasting life that is yours. Amen.
Saint of the Day

Blessed Anne, or Ana, as she was born as, was an early member of St. Teresa of Àvila's Discalced Carmelite order. Ana was born in October of 1550, the youngest child of a large Catholic family.
Her three brothers, three sisters, and their parents all attended Mass frequently as a family. Her parents instilled a life of faith in their young children, praying the rosary together, instructing their children in Catholic doctrine, and teaching their children to provide for and care for the poor they offered hospitality to in their home.
Ana was drawn to the love expressed by Christ in his passion, and she meditated upon his suffering for us often. Ana desperately wanted to imitate Christ. When Ana was only nine years old, her mother passed away. Only a year later, Ana's father died as well, leaving young Ana in desolation.
Left in the care of her brothers, Ana deeply desired to join the religious order, but her elder brothers would not hear of it, convinced that Ana would not be able to persist in religious life, and leave them, embarrassed, with a spinster sister.
Ana languished, miserable and alone. She fell ill, and nothing could cure her. Her relatives worried about her health, but no cure could help her. Finally, they carried her to a hermitage dedicated to St. Bartholomew, and Ana was cured.
At long last, Ana entered the Carmelite convent as a secular member. She entered in 1570 and remained the infirmarian at the Carmelite convent until 1605. Ana cared for St. Teresa faithfully on her deathbed. Teresa died in Ana's arms.
In 1605, the French Carmelites appointed Ana the superior of the convent in Pontoise. This was a highly unusual step, as Ana was a "secular Carmelite," meaning she was not part of the choir, and removed from the convent's life of prayer. She was consecrated as a religious sister and took over the convent at Pontoise. Ana became the prioress of several different convents: Tours, Flanders, and finally Antwerp, where she died on June 7, 1626. Her spiritual writings and letters are preserved in Antwerp and Paris.
Pope Benedict XV beatified Ana on May 6, 1917.
Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew, companion to St. Teresa of Avila—pray for us!