In the gospel this week the Sadducees ask Jesus a silly question about whose wife the woman in the resurrection will be, having been married to the seven brothers? They have no intention of listening to what Jesus has to say but only want to test his teachings. Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection, and they deny the immortality of the soul.
This gospel reading reminds me to reflect on my own understanding and belief in the promise of resurrection and of everlasting life with God.
In The Apostles’ Creed we recite the lines “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” How much of this do we truly believe?
The promise of the resurrection and life eternal with God is the very essence of my Catholic faith. Life with God is the reason why I don’t fear death. It is the same reason why I trust that my sister, Mercy, is now in a better place.
Mercy’s death, in July this year, came like a thief in the night, her young life snatched from us when we least expected it. Dumbfounded with so much grief, we mourn her untimely death. I think that she herself did not see it coming but I trust that she was prepared when she left this world because every night for the last two years until the day she died she prayed the holy rosary with us. The Hail Mary’s last line is: “Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
Death is part of life. However, we can never be fully prepared for it. One thing that I strongly believe is that life after death is a much better place.
I was scrolling my phone once and came a crossed the TikTok account of a doctor who was sharing her own experience of the life after death of a patient. The doctor wasn’t a religious person and never believed in the afterlife until she had this experience of hearing the voice of her patient telling her “It is wonderful out there, If I had known it to be like it is, I could have gone sooner.”
Have we ever imagined what everlasting life with God would be like? Perhaps we can remind ourselves of Jesus’ words “You will be with me in paradise.”
Angie Escarsa
