The Holy Apostles Silas and Silvanus and those with them
2 Corinthians 1:12-20; Matthew 22:23-33
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read Matthew 22:23-33
What can we expect will happen at the resurrection of the dead? This is the question that perplexes the Sadducees who in today’s Gospel present a somewhat unreal hypothetical situation to Our Lord in order to trip him up.
The Sadducees were one of three main politico-religious parties or sects within 1st century Judaism, the others being the Pharisees, whom we meet more frequently, and the ascetical Essenes; John the Baptist may have been an Essene or in contact with them. The Sadducees were the temple party made up of priests who were notable for their strict adherence to the Law. They differed from the Pharisees notably in their rejection of the resurrection from the dead. The Pharisees are more present in the Gospels and are presented as always engaging in discourse with Our Lord likely because they were attracted to Christ’s teachings in which He frequently spoke of the bodily resurrection. Among the Pharisees who came to confess Christ, St. Paul and Nicodemus are the most important examples.
The Sadducees rejected the resurrection of the dead and supposed that if such a thing could exist the relationships we have in this life would somehow be mirrored after our deaths. This is a limited understanding as Christ points out to them. The Church teaches that at the resurrection of the dead, which we confess in the Creed, all bodies will rise. Those who have done good will rise to new life in Christ and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 998). At the root of the Sadducees’ question though is another question: what is heaven?
We can speak about heaven as eternal joy, as our fulfilment, as the ecstatic experience of the self-giving love of God. It is to be with Christ. As theologian Peter Kreeft has said in his now-classic work Catholic Christianity, “the best definition of heaven is that it is indefinable.” The catechism says that “this mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description.” Should we ponder heaven then? Yes, in that we should earnestly desire and order our lives with one aim constantly in mind: union with God and participation in the life of the Holy Trinity. What does this look like? Well, next time we meditate upon an icon of the Crucifixion or of Our Lord’s Glorious Resurrection let us ask Him to give us some foretaste of that joy that surpasses all understanding. Let us ask Him that we might earnestly desire it with such longing that it wipes away all fear and anxiety, especially any fear or anxiety we may have of our own death.