From the Gospel accoording to Luke 20:27-40
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.”
Some of the scribes said in reply,
“Teacher, you have answered well.”
And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
Today Jesus invites us to lift our gaze and recognise who we are and what we are called to. We are children of God, conceived in the Father’s heart so that we may return to Him and live eternally. Yet we allow ourselves to become entangled in worldly reasoning, through which the devil makes us doubt the goodness of God’s law, leading us away from Him.
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and Jesus told them that the Lord is a God of the living, not of the dead. Today, much of the world does not believe in the indissolubility of marriage, but just as He said to the Pharisees, Jesus tells us that man and woman are made to be one flesh, and that what God has joined, no human being must divide. When, out of love for my spouse, I welcome him exactly as he is, and I give myself fully exactly as I am, we can already begin to taste in this life a small portion of the happiness Jesus promises us in the resurrection. We are witnesses to so many marriages that, upon discovering the beauty and greatness of marriage as God intended it, have been resurrected by the Lord, that we can no longer doubt His Word.
Spouses, let us live marriage as God designed it, and we will discover how joy floods our lives.
Jonathan: Emma, will you share with me what’s going on? For days now, even when I tell you I disagree with something you say, you don’t argue about anything, and you always seem cheerful. I like it—but I’m surprised. I can’t quite figure out what’s happening.
Emma: Do you remember how, at the Marital Love Project retreat, they told us that the change in our marriage would begin with each of us changing individually? Well, I’m trying to put that into practice in my life.
Jonathan: And what are you doing exactly?
Emma: I’m trying to go to Mass every day and to go to confession frequently. I try to do things the way you like them, to please you. And I try to see in everything you say the will of God for us. That’s why I don’t argue when you think differently from me—I understand it as simply another way of looking at things. I take it to prayer, and then I try to do as you suggest.
Jonathan: Even if it’s not the way you see it?
Emma: Well, Jonathan, I imagine that when you say something, it’s not to make things difficult for me, but because you truly believe it’s best for our family. It’s not about imposing my reasons, but about welcoming yours and making them my own. That way, they become ours.
Jonathan: And is that why you’re so happy?
Emma: The truth is, I have a joy I don’t remember ever having before. I think it must be the Lord’s joy.
Jonathan: Then I want that joy too. Will you help me find it?
Emma: Of course, my love. Shall we start by going to Mass together every day we can? And we must persevere in our marital prayer.
Jonathan: Absolutely, Emma. I want to do whatever it takes to have that joy—and to make you as happy as you’re making me. I love you.
Teach us to live our marriage as God intended, so that we may begin to experience the joy of the resurrection. Mother, you are blessed and glorious! Praised be the Lord for ever!