Pray for Deliverance

 The psalm today in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary is Prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance. The psalmist petitions God to act with steadfast love to instruct us in the ways of God which will support the humble against shame and embarrassment at the hands of the haughty and treacherous. The scenario presented in the Book of Tobit is one of good people finding that their suffering with illness and misfortune has placed them in the category of outcast and sinner according to their neighbours. Their prayer for release from these situations is heard by God who leads the resolution of the situation by bringing the faithful suffering together. The Gospel from Mark is described byFriar Jude Winkler as a test case brought to Jesus by the Sadducees, a sect of the Jewish religion who held that is no resurrection of the dead. The scenario Jesus is asked to consider gives Him the opportunity to clarify for the Sadducees that the resurrected life is not bound by the restraints of living in time. Friar Jude comments that possessive love is superseded by universal inclusive love. Jesus refers to the encounter of Moses with God through the burning bush, which would be very familiar to this audience and instructs them that the text indicates that God is shown to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the present tense, God of the living, which indicates that they have an existence after death. Our hope in God is exercised by our acts which relieve suffering and shame as we anticipate the universal love of our resurrection.