The Sadducees about levirate marriage, that made sure that men who died childless would still have heirs and leave a legacy.

For this group believes that there is no resurrection of the dead.

The resurrection is the firm assurance of our hope in the life to come.

The God of life, Jesus, consistently points to our “passing on “ from this life to the next.

 

Blessed Virgin Mary 

St. Clement I, pope & martyr

St. Columban, abbot

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Revelation 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. And their dead bodies will be exposed, for three days and a half, to people of all tribes, races, languages and nations, who will be ordered not to have them buried.

 

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.

 

Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10 Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 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.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Children of God."　　

Jesus' teaching on the resurrection. He answered the question posed by the Sadducees concerning a woman who married seven brothers without leaving her any child. The Sadducees question concerned the resurrection of the dead; in the resurrection, whose wife she will be.

 

Jesus answered them that in the life to come, there will be no more marriage because they will be children of God. The children of God are generated by God and are fully responsible creatures. Hence, no one will be in need. The story of the woman who had been widowed seven times seems to be a call to take responsibility for the needy other.

 

We may reflect that the more important point rests not on the issue of dependency of the female on the male but on the challenge posed to the male to be more responsible towards whatever is given him. Perhaps, the very reason why Jesus told the Sadducees that they misunderstood the resurrection is that the Sadducees not only refused to believe in the resurrection of the dead but also were not willing to take responsibility for the needy. How responsible have we already become as children of God even in the here and now?