Daily Readings - Wed Jun 07 2017
Mark
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.