20180606 FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION
06 JUNE, 2018, Wednesday, 9th Week, O Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Timothy 1:1-3,6-12 ©
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God's gift is the Spirit of power, love and self-control
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From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in
his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine,
wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Night and
day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as
my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers. That is why I am
reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my
hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power,
and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the
Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships
for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and
called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but
for his own purpose and by his own grace. This grace had already been granted
to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed
by the Appearing of our saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has
proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News; and I have been named
its herald, its apostle and its teacher.
It is only
on account of this that I am experiencing fresh hardships here now; but I have
not lost confidence, because I know who it is that I have put my trust in, and
I have no doubt at all that he is able to take care of all that I have
entrusted to him until that Day.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 122(123):1-2 ©
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To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
To you have I lifted up my eyes,
you who dwell in the heavens;
my eyes, like the eyes of slaves
on the hand of their lords.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
Like the eyes of a servant
on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God
till he show us his mercy.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn17:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn11:25, 26
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 12:18-27 ©
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The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is the God of the living
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Some Sadducees – who deny that there is a resurrection –
came to him and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses
in writing, if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, the man must
marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven
brothers. The first married a wife and then died leaving no children. The
second married the widow, and he too died leaving no children; with the third
it was the same, and none of the seven left any children. Last of all the woman
herself died. Now at the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will
she be, since she had been married to all seven?’
Jesus said
to them, ‘Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the
scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and
women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead
rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about
the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You
are very much mistaken.’
rdinary
Time
FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 Tim 1:1-3, 6-12; Ps 123:1-2; Mark 12:18-27
]
We can
appreciate the question of the Sadducees to Jesus if we understand the context
of their doubts about the resurrection. Faith in the resurrection was a
historical development. In the early years of the Israelites’ faith,
there was no teaching on the resurrection. The Torah, the first five
books of the Old Testament, which every Jew subscribes to as the most important
part of their sacred scriptures, does not speak about the resurrection.
It was believed that in death, we would all enter Sheol, a place of
non-existence, both for the good and bad alike. It was later on during
the time of the prophets, Daniel and Ezekiel, and the wisdom books such as Job
and Wisdom, that faith in life after death gradually emerged. In the
later part of the Old Testament, especially towards the inter-testamental
period and by the time of the Maccabean era (170 B.C.), belief in the afterlife
became more explicit. Nevertheless, the Jews were divided over this
doctrine, as seen in the time of Jesus, with the Sadducees denying the doctrine
of the resurrection, and the Pharisees upholding it.
It is within
this context that the reality of the resurrection was challenged. So, all those who
were skeptical about the resurrection would see the argument of the Sadducees
concerning the case of the man whose brothers had to marry his widow in order
to raise up children for him. If she were to marry all the seven brothers
who died, then the logical question was, “when they rise again, whose wife will
she be, since she had been married to all seven?”
In fact, this
question is not only relevant to those who challenge the reality of the
resurrection but also for those who believe in the resurrection. There are many naïve
Catholics who similarly ask me, “Would my husband still recognize me as his
wife in heaven? And suppose I remarry after his death, would I then have
two husbands in heaven?”, or, “Will I see my parents and friends or my dogs and
cats in heaven?” Such questions, sincere and innocent though they may be,
belie the fact that many do not understand the true meaning of the
resurrection.
The
resurrection of the body is not a resuscitation. In the next life, our
body would be transfigured. The body would possess a glorified matter
with the soul. Whilst it remains a body, it would be an incorruptible
body. As St Paul says, “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What
is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in
dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in
power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If
there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Cor 15:42-44)
So at the resurrection we will have a spiritual body filled with the glory of
God.
Accordingly,
in the next life, we will share the life and love of God so totally that we
will love each other as God loves us, individually, personally and yet
inclusively.
That is why the Lord said to them, “Is not the reason why you go wrong, that
you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise
from the dead, men and woman do not marry; no, they are like the angels in
heaven.” Heaven is a communion of saints. We will still
recognize each other but we will love without possessiveness. We will
love all others as much as we love our spouses when they were on earth.
Regardless whether they were our loved ones on earth or not, in heaven, we will
have so much capacity to love that our love includes all. Isn’t this the
kind of love that priests and religious are supposed to live already in this life?
We are called to love everyone, rich and poor, friends and strangers, male and
female, without discrimination or exclusivity. We are called to share the
love of God with everyone because all are our brothers and sisters.
We love others as much as God loves each one of us.
Of course,
this cannot be understood or accepted through human logic alone. This is the mistake
of the Sadducees and all those who deny the resurrection. They want to
rationalize and prove the resurrection through reason. Indeed, Jesus did
try to offer them an argument based on scriptures to indicate the truth of the
resurrection. “Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the Book
of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of
the dead but of the living. You are very much mistaken.” And this is what
systematic theology also seeks to do when proving the resurrection. We
will use the scripture texts and illustrate the gradual belief in the doctrine
of the resurrection from the time of Abraham till the period before Christ.
However, this
is insufficient because without a proleptic experience of the resurrection,
such reasoning remains a theory and a hypothesis. This is why our faith
in the resurrection is not dependent on reason but on our personal encounter
with the Risen Lord. Only an encounter with the Risen Lord can cause us
to believe in the resurrection. This was true of the apostles and
particularly St Paul who was a great persecutor of the Church until his
encounter with the Lord. He wrote, that Christ “appeared to Cephas, then to the
twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and
sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have
died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last
of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am
the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted
the church of God.” (1 Cor 15:5-9)
Indeed, in
the final analysis, faith in the resurrection requires a personal encounter
with the Risen Lord, without which, it remains an empty doctrine and lacks the
power to change lives. With the resurrection, we can “proclaim Christ
crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to
those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s
weakness is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor 1:23-25)
The
resurrection is the basis for the proclamation of the gospel. After encountering the
Risen Lord, Jesus commanded them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded
you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19f)
Indeed, the Lord repeatedly told the disciples when they saw Him, “Do not be
afraid; go and tell my brothers.” (Mt 28:10)
This explains
why St Paul too could encourage Timothy, the young bishop to proclaim the faith
without fear or favour. He reminded him, “never to be ashamed of witnessing to the
Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me bear the hardships
for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and
called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but for
his own purpose and by his own grace.” We should not be afraid to witness
for Christ like the apostles who preached with boldness after the resurrection
because “this grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the
beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the Appearing of our saviour
Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality
through the Good News.” Faith in His death and resurrection is the power
of God that we are called to rely on. St Paul said, “I want to know Christ and
the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming
like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the
dead.” (Phil 3:10f)
So what must
we do? St
Paul told Timothy, “I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift
that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a
spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control.”
The Risen Lord has given us His Spirit at Pentecost. This same Spirit that
empowered Jesus in His ministry will empower us as well.
So we must
renew the Holy Spirit in our lives. That is why He ordered the disciples “not to leave
Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This is what you
have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4f)
With the Holy Spirit in us, we know with confidence that the Lord is also with
us. We can say with St Paul, “It is only on account of this that I am
experiencing fresh hardships here now; but I have not lost confidence, because
I know who it is that I have put my trust in, and I have no doubt at all that
he is able to take care of all that I have entrusted to him until that Day.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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