Word to the Wise
Saturday, November 23, 2019 - Saturday in the 33th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Macc 6:1-13 and Luke 20:27-40]"The children of this age marry and remarry; 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." [Luke]
If this gospel passage today seems familiar, this may be due to the fact that it appeared in the Sunday scripture on November 10th, the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Sundays follow a different schedule, (Cycles A -Matthew, B-Mark, C-Luke) than the weekdays (Year I and Year II). The last parts of the Gospel According to Luke are converging now in the two schedules, so there is some repetition.
Nevertheless, the story of Jesus' encounter with the Sadducees and their question about the lady who was married to seven brothers in succession offers us plenty to think about. Basically it is an effort to trap Jesus with a thorny question about Mosaic Law and belief in a final resurrection. Jesus' reply, in part, leaves us with a challenge to our imagination. He says that the faithful who die will be "like angels."
Much (to put it mildly) has been written about what "heaven" will be like. Eternal bliss is a real challenge to our imagination. What will I look like? What age will I be? Will my pets be with me? Will I have to share space with so-and-so? Questions like these were current in St. Paul's time, as his blunt words in 1 Cor. 15:36-58 about the "resurrection body" indicate. He dismisses speculation as foolish since a whole new way of existence comes into play.
If our imaginations, fed by an image or two from the Book of Revelation, have us in white robes, holding palm branches or harps and singing praises ever after, we should remember that these are OUR images. Pope St. John Paul II once reminded us that heaven is more a relationship, not a place. The beatific vision of God will remain a challenge to our imagination and theological speculation, but it is essentially a matter of faith, hope and love. We'll still want to ask, "What's it like to be like angel?" There's really only one way to find out, and everyone of us will learn it! AMEN
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