GOD OF THE LIVING

Introduction
For a few days, we shall hear excerpts from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. It is ascribed to Paul but probably written by his disciple or scribe. It insists on the role of both priests and laity to serve the Gospel without fear.
With arguments that are a bit difficult to follow, Jesus upholds the resurrection of the dead. God is a God of the living; his promises are not given in vain. Jesus is harsh with those who are interested in religion for the sake of arguing about doctrine but are not interested in faith and holiness.

1 Reading 2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our saviour Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel,
for which I was appointed preacher and Apostle and teacher.
On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed,
for I know him in whom I have believed
and am confident that he is able to guard
what has been entrusted to me until that day.

Responsorial Psalm 123:1b-2ab, 2cdef
R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven.
Behold, as the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

Alleluia John 11:25A, 26
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mark 12:18-27
Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question to him, 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 and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled.”

Commentary:
“To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.”
This response for the Psalm of the day captures Tobit and Sara’s philosophy of life. In their tragedies, they lift their souls in pain and hope to God. To whom else can they pour out their deepest agonies? Anyone who trusts in God with such faith will not be disappointed. God listens to their cry and reorders their lives so that seeming tragedies become fertile grounds for a greater blessing. The stories of Tobit and Sara testify to this truth. The woman in the gospel, who was married to seven brothers, might have been as heartbroken as Sara. Jesus tells us that her life in the resurrection would be very different from how it was for her on earth. If the world truly understood the Scriptures and the power of God, there would be no loss of hope among us. Let us pray for such understanding in human hearts.

Blessing
Some groups of the early Christian community called themselves “the living ones.” Our faith, our sharing in the resurrection of Christ, makes us living people, who live for life without end. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!