The Sadducees hope to catch Jesus in their carefully crafted question,

and thus to demonstrate how “foolish” ideas of a resurrection from the dead are.

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. Catherine of Alexandria, virgin & martyr

 1st Reading: 1 Maccabees 6:1-13

 Ps 9:2-3, 4 & 6, 16 & 19 I will rejoice in your salvation, O Lord.

 

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 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."

Some teachers of the Law then agreed with Jesus, "Master, you have spoken well." They didn't dare to ask him anything else. 

 

Reflection:

"The legacy that we leave is a legacy of faith."

Most people hope to leave a legacy so that they will be remembered when their earthly life has ended. In the first reading, King Antiochus despairs because the legacy he has planned was destroyed as his kingdom collapsed. The Sadducees test Jesus with a question about levirate marriage, a Jewish custom outlined in the Torah that made sure that men who died childless would still have heirs and leave a legacy.

 

The legacy that we leave is a legacy of faith. We share the Good News that we have received from the Lord. We help people encounter Jesus and accompany them as they grow in their relationship with him. We leave as our legacy our lives of loving service, using our time, treasure, and talent to help our vulnerable brothers and sisters. The acts of love rendered in faith that we leave behind us are the greatest legacy we could leave because they honor the God of the living.