Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 23, 2019
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.
“Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
“And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask him another question.
A few years ago, I began preparing to propose to the woman who is now my wife. All of my thoughts and planning were focused on our wedding and life together. I called wedding venues, went ring shopping, and paid off the remainder of my student loans.
When I got around to asking my father-in-law if I could marry his daughter, his advice was unrelated to the thoughts that had been preoccupying all of my actions. He said, “Your goal is to get each other into heaven.”
Like the Sadducees, I was consumed with the possessions and constraints of this world. My father-in-law was focused on our life in the next.
It is easy to get caught up in the events that affect our daily lives, and forget that jobs, money, and even death constrain us in this world. Jesus, through his resurrection, opened up life after death—a reality that the Sadducees could not comprehend.
It is important to remember that our life here on earth is temporary, and eternity awaits those whom God finds worthy. Let us all live with the goal of helping each other get into heaven, so we can all rise again and be “like angels.”
Prayer
O God of the living, you are the God of resurrection—the God who makes a way where there is no way, who makes a way through tombs that are closed. Jesus himself is the promise of the resurrection of the dead. You, Father, gave us the empty tomb, a silent rock that whispers to us a promise of life. It is the same promise you made from a bush burning in the desert: “I will deliver you.” You, God of the living, crush death and mend everything that is broken. Because of you, even death turns to life, and our fear turns to gladness. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Clement I was the fourth pope to lead the Roman Church. Clement was a follower of St. Peter and potentially even St. Paul. Clement is famous for his letter to the Corinthians, the community which received two of Paul's most famous letters. Clement's letter is written in response to a schism in the community in Corinth but we know little else about this pope from historical records.
According to ancient legend, however, the Roman populace rioted to have Christians expelled, and Clement, as the Bishop of Rome, was expelled to work in a marble quarry. There were many Christians who were forced to work there, and Clement encouraged and supported them.
The guards at the quarry noticed that he was converting many of his fellow workers to Christianity. Subsequently, Clement was ordered to be executed by drowning. An anchor was tied around his neck and Clement was thrown into the sea.
In the letter to the Corinthians, Clement writes:
"Beloved, how blessed and wonderful are God's gifts! There is life everlasting, joy in righteousness, truth in freedom, faith, confidence, and self-control in holiness. And these are the gifts that we can comprehend; what of all the others that are being prepared for those who look to him. Only the Creator, the Father of the ages, the all-holy, knows their grandeur and their loveliness."
Clement I is a patron saint of those who work on the water and of marble workers. Some of his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus.
Pope St. Clement, pope and patron saint of those who work on the water—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Pope St. Clement I is in the public domain. Last accessed October 18, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
