The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate a vision and a parable that resonate with our eternal relationship with the Living God.
The eternal journey
The reading from the Book of Revelation presents Two Witnesses to the triumph of the Lord of the earth.
* [11:5–6] These details are derived from stories of Moses, who turned water into blood (Ex 7:17–20), and of Elijah, who called down fire from heaven (1 Kgs 18:36–40; 2 Kgs 1:10) and closed up the sky for three years (1 Kgs 17:1; cf. 18:1).1
Psalm 144 is a prayer for National Deliverance and Security.
* [144:8b, 11b] Their right hands are raised in lying oaths: the psalmist’s enemies give false testimony.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus redirects a question about the Resurrection.
* [20:28–33] The Sadducees’ question, based on the law of levirate marriage recorded in Dt 25:5–10, ridicules the idea of the resurrection. Jesus rejects their naive understanding of the resurrection (Lk 20:35–36) and then argues on behalf of the resurrection of the dead on the basis of the written law (Lk 20:37–38) that the Sadducees accept. See also notes on Mt 22:23–33.3
Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that Jesus sidesteps the dilemma by teaching that those who are pure hearted enough to enter the Reign of God after death will not marry nor be given in marriage because the focus of their eternal life will be God alone. There are many political and theological ramifications of Jesus’ assertion that have fascinated historians, lawyers and bible scholars for centuries.
By juxtaposing the text with the first reading about the pure hearted martyrs who are called into heaven, and the total self donation of others who enter heaven we can perhaps find a golden thread with the feast itself. In another passage from Luke the Evangelist quotes Jesus as saying: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. To “see” in this context is to discern the will of God and live it out. Those who are pure of heart aren’t naïve; they are wisely knowledgeable – they understand their choices as human persons, and always choose God first. To see God is to know and do God’s will. The Will of God for a pure hearted (blessed) person, as Jesus points out in John’s gospel, is the daily bread of real life. Life to the full is the fruit of purity of heart, that is the commitment to God’s desires in all things.4
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus cites Moses to affirm the resurrection,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"The Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees by bringing forward their own leader Moses, who was clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. He set God before us saying in the bush, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob' (Exodus 3:6). Of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? He is the God of the living. They certainly will rise when his almighty right hand brings them and all that are on the earth there. For people not to believe that this will happen is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees, but it is altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. We believe in him who says, 'I am the resurrection and the life' (John 11:25). He will raise the dead suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, and at the last trumpet. It shall sound, the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52). For Christ our common Savior will transfer us into incorruption, glory and to an incorruptible life."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 136)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 20:27-40 suggests that those who go through life with only one spouse, or who have never been married, may still have worry about unresolved family strife.
The good news is that we won’t have conflicts in heaven. There, Scripture tells us, God “will wipe every tear,” and “there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain” (Revelation 21:4). We won’t suffer or be weighed down by the sins that result in so many of our difficulties. There may be more than one spouse waiting for us in heaven or maybe a sibling we didn’t get along with. It may be hard to imagine these relationships without all the problems, complications, or bad feelings, but that’s how it will be. And we will love it!6
Friar Jude Winkler unfolds the many layers of symbolism in the text from Revelation. The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, angelic messengers, or individual plans of God for people. Friar Jude reminds us of the Christian belief in a resurrection of body and soul on the last day.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the Franciscan charism always re-emerges in fresh form—because it is the very “marrow of the Gospel.” Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s charism is to teach us how to live the Gospel in our time in fresh and needed ways. It is a challenging message and perhaps like the rich man, we will walk away (Mark 10:17–22), but we will not be unchanged by the encounter.
Yes, gospel practices will cost us everything. But when we give ourselves to gospel practices, we gain what we could not have otherwise: “homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life” (Mark 10:30). We can begin to live the life that’s really life—not some ideal (persecutions come right along with it!), but a beloved community that starts now and lasts forever. In short, when we trust the gospel’s practices, letting them direct our lives, we begin to have what the New Testament calls “church.”7
The eternal continuation of our relationship with the Living God is a mystery that we can approach from our experience in living the Gospel today.
References
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