Weekly thoughts on the Sunday Gospel, readings or a topic...

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seeing your life through the lens of the gospels – Luke 20:27-38
1. The question of the Sadducees suggests that how we will be in the afterlife is a continuation of how we are here. The reply of Jesus affirms that this is not so. We are important not because of any ‘status’ we might have but because we are children of God. Recall moments when you saw your worth, or the worth of another, as something other than worldly status.
2. A common tactic in an argument is to make fun of the position of another. Then one does not have to take seriously the view being expressed. Have you ever found yourself doing this? Have you experienced others doing it with you? What were the effects of such an attitude? Is there life here? If not, where have you found a fuller life?
3. Jesus’ use of the phrase ‘Children of the resurrection’ to describe his followers, points to the fact that we believe in something that cannot be proven. Life can sometimes present us with that kind of a challenge – an invitation to believe in things we cannot prove: another person, a cause, the value of a course of action, etc. What has been your experience of believing and acting on this kind of faith?
4. At the heart of our Christian faith is belief that death is not the end. We believe that the relationship we have with God, and that starts in this life, survives death and continues after death in the resurrection. In this month of November we recall those we have loved and have died. How has belief in the resurrection helped you in thinking about those you have loved and who are no longer with you?  – John Byrne, OSA

The Deep End
In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees are trying to trap Jesus, using a slightly exaggerated and absurd case about whose wife someone will be in heaven if they have married many times. They have no faith in the resurrection and therefore do not grasp that in a place of peace, justice and freedom, people cannot be ‘owned’ or ‘given.’ Questions like the one posed by the Sadducees ignore the radical freshness of the Kingdom of God. All we really can be sure of is that that place will be radically different to anything we know, a new creation.
We are all ‘children of this world’ who are called to be ‘children of the resurrection.’ You might recall today someone who has passed away, who is some sense, because of their influence on people, ‘lives on’ in the lives of those they touched. But they are ‘children of the resurrection’ not because of their own goodness, but because of the power of Christ to raise us from the dead.
Let us use this week to notice the moments of resurrection all around us. God’s Kingdom is also here and now, if we allow ourselves to be present and aware to this ongoing ‘new creation’.
‘You were born a child of light’s wonderful secret – you return to the beauty you have always been.’ (Aberjhani)  – Jane Mellett

(from Intercom)