The gospel for Saturday of the 33rd week in Ordinary Time is taken from Luke 20th, chapter 27th to the 40th verse. Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, teacher, Moses wrote for us, if someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally, the woman also died.
Now, at the resurrection, whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her? Jesus said to them, the children of this age marry and remarried. But those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels, and they are the children of God, because they are the ones who will rise, that the dead will rise. Even Moses made known in the passage about the bush when he called Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive. Some of the scribes said in reply, teacher, you have answered well. And they no longer dared to ask him anything. It’s always amazing to me that how much of the Scriptures that the scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees didn’t really understand. And I love Jesus patience with them when he points out very clearly things that they didn’t see to prove that there is an answer to the questions they’ve always been posing to one another. It reminds us always to go back to Scripture over and over again and to seek to find the message of truth that is throughout the books.
It is an incredible resource and we could not live without it. The Closing Prayer Father, your wisdom is always beyond our full understanding. But story after story, image after image, has consistently presented to us ways of pondering the truth that we’re called to live. And when we ponder it, with your help, with your insight, with your spirit dwelling in us, we will find a truth more clearly that motivates us, guides us, and leads us to the fullness of life. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.