Reflections on Scripture | Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Choose either the video or audio below.

Gospel
Mark 12:18-27

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question to him, 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 and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to her."
Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled."

Reflection

There are many people who don't believe in the resurrection of the dead. And the Sadducees were very clear about their stand on it, and their question is childlike, almost naive. And I love that Jesus doesn't so much condemn them as, say, you're not understanding, you're misled. What they're missing by there not believing in the resurrection of the dead is the role that the dead have in our life.

They're like angels. And angels are those who speak for God and the dead are those who can pray with us. For us, send messages to us. They're an asset that's beyond our imagining. Jesus wants us to believe in their presence, to believe it's right to pray for them and to receive their prayers.

Let Us Pray
Father, you are there with us. Your angels are all around us, guiding us. And you tell us that those who've loved us, who've gone before us, are there to help us. Help us be aware of their presence. Pray for them. Listen for their advice. And we ask this. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Kyle Cross