Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 20, 27-38
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 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.
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;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
We are children of God
1) Women. How important it is to give dignity to women! To be conscious that a woman is not something, but someone. I remember the beautiful document by Pope John Paul II called “Dignitatis Mulieribus”, the dignity of women. Yet nowadays, there are so many women who still suffer, and are taken as objects, or considered useful only for the purpose of work (washing, ironing, cooking, and so on). In women, we can see the marvelous work of God. Thank you for risking your own life and for defending the life that you carry in your womb. Thank you for taking care of each person that you have given birth to, no matter their age. Thank you for lifting up those who walk at your side when they fall. Thank you for making a family. Thank you for consecrating your life and building a community. Thank you for being a woman.
2) Marriage. It is a sacrament of mission; the mission is to sanctify your spouse. It is “till death do us part”, because in eternity there is no marriage, there is only eternal love for God.
3) Eternal life. This is what guides our life, our aim, to seek heaven and to be a heaven for others. You and I must accept the commitment that we are passing through this life which demands striving daily in the search of holiness. You are called to live in sanctity, because your life is the process of building heaven. Strive for sainthood. Build up heaven, not hell.
God bless you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Remember that Heaven is our goal!
