From: Mark 12:18-27

The Resurrection of the Dead

[18] And Sadducees came to Him (Jesus), who say that there is no resurrection;
and they asked Him a question, saying [19] “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that
if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take
the wife, and raise up children for his brother. [20] There were seven brothers;
the first took a wife, and when he died left no children; [21] and the second took
her, and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; [22] and the seven left
no children. Last of all the woman also died. [23] In the resurrection whose wife
will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

[24] Jesus said to them, “Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither
the Scriptures nor the power of God? [25] For when they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in Heaven. [26]
And as for being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage
about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? [27] He is not God of the dead, but of the living;
you are quite wrong.”

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Commentary:

18-27. Before answering the difficulty proposed by the Sadducees, Jesus wants
to identify the source of the problem—man’s tendency to confine the greatness of
God inside a human framework through excessive reliance on reason, not giving
due weight to divine Revelation and the power of God. A person can have difficul-
ty with the truths of faith; this is not surprising, for these truths are above human
reason. But it is ridiculous to try to find contradictions in the revealed word of
God; this only leads away from any solution of difficulty and may make it impos-
sible to find one’s way back to God. We need to approach Sacred Scripture, and,
in general, the things of God, with the humility which faith demands. In the pas-
sage about the burning bush, which Jesus quotes to the Sadducees, God says
this to Moses: “Put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you
stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	2 Timothy 1:1-3,6-12 ©

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; I remember your tears 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.

Psalm	Psalm 122:1-2 ©

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.

Gospel Acclamation	Jn17:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth, O Lord:

consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

Or	Jn11:25, 26

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will never die.

Alleluia!

Gospel	Mark 12:18-27 ©

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.’