From: Luke 20:27-38

The Resurrection of the Dead

[27] There came to Him (Jesus) some Sadducees, those who say that
there is no resurrection, [28] and they asked Him a question saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife
but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for
his brother. [29] Now there were seven brothers; the first took a
wife, and died without children; [30] and the second [31] and the third
took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. [32]
Afterward the woman also died. [33] In the resurrection, therefore,
whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

[34] And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given
in marriage; [35] but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that
age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given
in marriage, [36] for they cannot die any more, because they are equal
to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. [37]
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about
the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob. [38] Now He is not God of the dead, but of
the living; for all live to Him.”

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Commentary:

27-38. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body or
the immortality of the soul. They came along to ask Jesus a question
which is apparently unanswerable. According to the Levirate law (cf.
Deuteronomy 25:5ff), if a man died without issue, his brother was duty
bound to marry his widow to provide his brother with descendants. The
consequences of this law would seem to give rise to a ridiculous situation
at the resurrection of the dead.

Our Lord replies by reaffirming that there will be a resurrection; and by
explaining the properties of those who have risen again, the Sadducees’
argument simply evaporates. In this world people marry in order to
continue the species: that is the primary aim of marriage. After the
resurrection there will be no more marriage because people will not
die anymore.

Quoting Sacred Scripture (Exodus 3:2, 6) our Lord shows the grave
mistake the Sadducees make, and He argues: God is not the God of
the dead but of the living, that is to say, there exists a permanent
relationship between God and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who have
been dead for years. Therefore, although these just men have died as
far as their bodies are concerned, they are alive, truly alive, in God—their
souls are immortal—and they are awaiting the resurrection of their
bodies.

See also the notes on Matthew 22:23-33 and Mark 12:18-27.

[The note on Matthew 22:23-33 states:

23-33. The Sadducees argue against belief in the resurrection of the
dead on the basis of the Levirate law, a Jewish law which laid down
that when a married man died without issue, one of his brothers,
according to a fixed order, should marry his widow and the first son
of that union be given the dead man’s name. By outlining an extreme
cases the Sadducees make the law and belief in resurrection look
ridiculous. In His reply, Jesus shows up the frivolity of their objections
and asserts the truth of the resurrection of the dead.]

[The note on Mark 12:18-27 states:

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 difficulty 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 impossible 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 passage 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.

Readings at Mass

First reading

2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14 ©

There were seven brothers who were arrested with their mother. The king tried to force them to taste pig’s flesh, which the Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges. One of them, acting as spokesman for the others, said, ‘What are you trying to find out from us? We are prepared to die rather than break the laws of our ancestors.’

With his last breath the second brother exclaimed, ‘Inhuman fiend, you may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, since it is for his laws that we die, to live again for ever.’

After him, they amused themselves with the third, who on being asked for his tongue promptly thrust it out and boldly held out his hands, with these honourable words, ‘It was heaven that gave me these limbs; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again.’ The king and his attendants were astounded at the young man’s courage and his utter indifference to suffering.

When this one was dead they subjected the fourth to the same savage torture. When he neared his end he cried, ‘Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men’s hands, yet relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection, no new life.’

Psalm

Psalm 16:1,5-6,8,15 ©

I shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.

Lord, hear a cause that is just,

pay heed to my cry.

Turn your ear to my prayer:

no deceit is on my lips.

I shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.

I kept my feet firmly in your paths;

there was no faltering in my steps.

I am here and I call, you will hear me, O God.

Turn your ear to me; hear my words.

I shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.

Guard me as the apple of your eye.

Hide me in the shadow of your wings

As for me, in my justice I shall see your face

and be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory.

I shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.

Second reading

2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 ©

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.

Finally, brothers, pray for us; pray that the Lord’s message may spread quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you; and pray that we may be preserved from the interference of bigoted and evil people, for faith is not given to everyone. But the Lord is faithful, and he will give you strength and guard you from the evil one, and we, in the Lord, have every confidence that you are doing and will go on doing all that we tell you. May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of God and the fortitude of Christ.

Gospel Acclamation

Lk21:36

Alleluia, alleluia!

Stay awake, praying at all times

for the strength to stand with confidence

before the Son of Man.

Alleluia!

Or	Rv1:5,6

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus Christ is the First-born from the dead:

to him be glory and power for ever and ever.

Alleluia!

EITHER:

Gospel

Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached him and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’

Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’

OR:

Alternative Gospel

Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached him and they put this question to him.