Daily Catholic Mass Readings for June 7, 2017
First Reading: Tobit 3.1-6a, 7-10a, 11-13, 15b-17a
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Psalm 25
1To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;2in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.3No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.4Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;5guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.6Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.7Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.8Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.9He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.10All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.11For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.12Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.13He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.14The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.15My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.16Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.17The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish.18Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.19See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me!20Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.21May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.22Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!
Gospel: Mark 12.18-27
18Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.19"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother.20Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children.21The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third.22In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too.23At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"24Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?25When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.26Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the themes of faith, suffering, and the ultimate hope of eternal life. In the first reading from Tobit, we encounter two souls, Tobit and Sarah, who are deeply afflicted. Tobit, blind and humiliated, cries out to God, acknowledging His justice and mercy, while Sarah, having lost seven husbands, prays for deliverance from her reproach. Both turn to God in their despair, trusting in His providence and goodness. Their prayers are not complaints but acts of faith, expressing their belief that God can transform their suffering into something redemptive.
In the Gospel, Jesus confronts the Sadducees, who question the reality of the resurrection. Using a hypothetical scenario about a woman married to seven brothers, they seek to mock the idea of an afterlife. Jesus, however, reveals their error by explaining that the resurrected life is beyond earthly marriage and human categories. He reminds them that God is the God of the living, not the dead, and that life with Him transcends death. This exchange underscores the Sadducees' spiritual blindness and their failure to grasp the power and mystery of God.
These readings are connected by the theme of trusting in God’s plan, even when it seems unclear or when suffering weighs heavily upon us. Tobit and Sarah teach us to pray with sincerity and perseverance, while Jesus calls us to look beyond the limitations of this world and to hope in the eternal life He promises. In our daily lives, we are invited to embrace this same faith. When we face trials or doubts, let us turn to God with trust, knowing that He is ever-merciful and that His ways are always just. May we, like Tobit and Sarah, find strength in prayer, and may we, like Jesus, keep our eyes fixed on the eternal life that awaits us.