The Gospel text for this weekend certainly presents its challenges, the first of which being the perennial question as to whether we will be united with our spouses in heaven. Theological opinion certainly runs the gamut as to an answer, and the Gospel text certainly presents the absurdity of the question pressed to its logical conclusion. Overlooked in this quagmire is the larger theological question: to whom are we wed? Where are our allegiances in the realm of faith? These are the real questions for us to consider in the readings for this Sunday.
The first reading presents the case in stark terms. It relates the story of seven brothers who are arrested for maintaining fidelity to the law of God against the oppressive Greek occupiers. Each one is offered the choice of rejecting God and his law or suffering torture and death. The brothers all choose loyalty to God in the face of great torment and consequently provide us with an example to follow in our own lives. Would our loyalty to God and his truth be such that we would be able to endure a similar fate?
In the United States this question is largely hypothetical and theoretical, but we have to remember that this scenario was a very real one for the early Christian church. We might well ask ourselves whether this disparity is the result of our modern predisposition to acquiece to the demands of the culture rather than adopt a position that might run contrary to prevailing opinion. In almost every category of current issues we find Catholics preferring popular opinion rather than the position of the Church: abortion, same sex marriage, respect and care for immigrants, capital punishment, the immorality of nuclear weapons, and a host of other issues.
Pope John Paul II stressed that each position the Church takes has its roots in the dignity of the human person. He states that "each and every person has been included in the mystery of the Redemption, and with each one Christ has united himself forever through this mystery. Every person comes into the world through being conceived in his mother's womb and being born of his mother, and precisely on account of the mystery of the Redemption is entrusted to the solicitude of the Church. Her solicitude is about the whole person and is focused on each person in an altogether special manner. The object of her care is the person in their unique and unrepeatable human reality, which keeps intact the image and likeness of God himself." (Pope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, #11)
The Sadducees in the Gospel reading rejected the transcendent dimension of the human person. By denying the resurrection of the dead they reduced the human person to merely an earthly reality, and thus there could be no reason why anyone should remain faithful to God and the law. The Sadducees were one group who allied themselves with the Roman occupiers who exploited the populace. Hence, the first reading provides us with the proper contrast to their infidelity in recalling the story of these heroic men who, like St. Thomas More, died the king's good servants, but God's first.
In the end we face a challenge of vocation, one that asks us to determine where our allegiances lie and to whom we love above all things. The spiritual life is often referred to as a marriage union between a person and God, a relationship of perpetual obligation. Yet, the obligation is not merely one of external observance; in the end it is love alone that can transform our weakness into strong fidelity to God, profound service to our neighbor, and selflessness to the point of death. God will always be faithful as Paul reminds us in the second reading. We therefore pray with the Church in the opening pray for today's Mass for the grace of being faithful to God in all things: "Let us pray that our prayer rise like incense in the presence of God. Almighty Father, strong is your justice and great is your mercy. Protect us in the burdens and challenges of life. Shield our minds from the distortion of pride and enfold our desire with the beauty of truth. Help us to become more aware of your loving design so that we may more willingly give our lives in service to all. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."
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