Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.  That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

The Sadducees tried to trick Jesus and call into question the concept of resurrection, but they fail because Jesus understood their tactics and responded in an unexpected manner. He did not give the Sadducees an answer that would trap him, but rather an answer that points to a deeper truth at the heart of their question. He makes clear that God is the Lord of the Living, not the dead. God is present in all times and so for Him all are alive. Only mortal sin can deaden us to God and that because we willfully choose to be cut off from God through our choice of selfish sin over selfless servitude to our Savior. Those who know, love, and serve God and His children will always be alive in God’s sight. As such, let us make a point to always have God as the source, center, and summit of our lives so that we too might one day be resurrected.

Do we live our lives as if God is always present? Do we think, say, and do everything in a manner worthy of life everlasting? What sins are holding us back from living lives dedicated to God?

O Lord, find us worthy to attain to your coming and the resurrection of the dead.

Amen.