Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Both readings from today are intriguing. The Gospel seems like it is a commentary on marriage, but actually, it’s the attempt of the Sadducees who don’t believe in the resurrection to trap Jesus who preached about resurrection. Some context might be helpful. In Jesus’ time, it was believed that one or really a man (women weren’t considered in this Jewish law) continued his life by having children. However, rather than contradict himself by specifying a brother or saying that all the brothers were the wife’s husband, Jesus responded to the Sadducees that in the resurrection, people don’t die and thus there is no need to continue one’s life by marrying and having children. Looking at the reaction of the scribes, it seemed that Jesus was successful at getting out of that trap.
Nonetheless, as readers in our own day and age, what does this mean for us? Jesus isn’t telling us to not be married (even though I did take a vow of chastity that includes celibacy). In the line when he said, “[God] is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Luke 20:38), Jesus challenges us to be alive in God. This is difficult especially in our society in which people spend their lives avoiding death. For example, youth is a cultural value, so there is pressure to stay young and multiple ways to do so ranging from hair dye to botox. It’s also a compliment to tell someone that they look young for their age. In addition, many people put a lot of focus on avoiding sin. God’s love and heaven is seen as something to be earned and as a reward rather than a gift that God freely gives regardless of who we are and what we do. Moreover, life is often seen through accomplishment and pursuing things rather than what we do have such as God’s love. However, our witness to the Gospel should be about how we are alive already with God and how God gives life to us and all aspects of our lives. My friend uses an analogy of a box. He and I along with many others often compartmentalize our lives into “boxes”. He asks how do we pour the contents of our God box into the other boxes of our lives? In this Gospel passage, Jesus allows us to examine what makes us alive and direct those toward God.
The Jewish people in the first reading recognized that they were alive in God. The story takes place during the reign of King Antiochus who saw Greek culture as superior to all others. Consequently, he put up a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Jewish temple, sprinkled pig’s blood on copies of Jewish scripture, and forbade circumcision. This Scripture passage describes the revolt of the Jews as they fought Antiochus’ army, tore down the statue of Zeus, and rededicated the Temple. After years of going between worshiping other gods and God, the Jewish people finally realized their life in God.
From these readings, we learn that our call as Jesus’ disciples is to center our lives on God, the source of our joy. I would like to end this reflection with today’s Collect:
Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God,
the constant gladness of being devoted to you,
for it is full and lasting happiness
to serve with constancy
the author of all that is good.Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.Amen.
–Sr. Emily Sandoval, FMI