It is easy to get caught-up in today's Gospel in the passage about the woman and her multiple husbands who die leaving her childless, and the Sadducees asking, whose wife is she? Perhaps we have all wondered about heaven and the way it is portrayed, wondering the same thing.
Jesus cautions us to not become misled: that we know the scriptures and we know the power of God. "Our God is not God of the Dead, but the Living." May we take comfort in that. Wherever we go and have breath, our God is with us. Jesus tells us elsewhere, "I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me will never die."
If we live in Christ, in the Way, which is the path to eternal life, we shall never have to die. How difficult is it? When we focus on the temporal world, like wondering whose wife the woman will be when she gets to heaven, that is focusing on the world around us. We are given St. Paul as an example to us to live in Christ, to be fully alive and focused on the next world. This does not mean that he lived in the next world only, no, but that he was grounded in the next and it helped him get through the tough times in this world when he was persecuted, had to travel, worked long days, had to give talks in front of strangers, had to mediate in disagreements between friends, had disagreements with the administration of the church, etc. He kept his focus on our living God, encouraging us all to do the same. He wrote:
"For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God."
"He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel.."(2 Tim 1:6-12)
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God."
"He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel.."(2 Tim 1:6-12)
No comments:
Post a Comment