Do you believe in the resurrection?
This Sunday we are presented with a question from the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a group of leaders at the time of Jesus who did not believe in the resurrection. The Sadducees were made up of aristocratic, priestly families who had become collaborators with the Roman occupiers. Their beliefs shifted with the political winds. They were invested in maintaining the status quo in order to protect their own power and privilege. This position blinded them. The faith of the Sadducees was completely in this world. Their question about who a dead man would be married to if he had married multiple times during his life reveals how this-worldly their thinking was. Their fate was tied to this world and so they could imagine nothing beyond it. An afterlife was inconceivable to them.
In contrast, our faith teaches us about the reality of life after death. There is more to life than can be found in this world. Our faith roots us in heaven; not in our position, power, or privilege in this world. As Catholics, we know that this world will never satisfy us. We are pilgrims in the world. We live in the world, but are not of this world.
In times of struggle and suffering our belief in eternal life becomes apparent. Because of his faith, Ignatius of Antioch could write, “It is better for me to die in Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. Him it is I seek – who died for us. Him it is I desire – Let me receive pure light...” He wrote this on the way to the Roman Colosseum, condemned to be devoured by lions. Courage like this is rooted in a faith in eternal life.
May we always remember that we are made for a heavenly homeland far beyond this world.
Peace,
Lincoln
