H. Francisco J. Posada, L.C.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Christ, our King, Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord, may I love my whole family, may I not let myself be carried away by grudges, misunderstandings, fights, because You call me to more, to love without condition, this is my path of holiness: to learn to love as God loves. Give me your grace so that every day I may grow in this and may come closer to you through my brothers and sisters.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark 12:18-27
At that time some of the Sadducees, who say that the dead are not raised from the dead, came to Jesus and said to him: “Master, Moses left us written that if a man dies leaving his widow childless, that the brother of the one who died should take her as his wife, to give offspring to his brother.. Once upon a time there were seven brothers, the first of whom married and died, leaving no children. The second married the widow and also died, leaving no children; so did the third. All seven married her and none of them left offspring. Last of all, after them all, the woman also died. On the day of resurrection, when they rise from the dead, whose wife will she be of the seven? For she was a woman of the seven.
Jesus answered them, “You are in error, because you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. For when they are raised from the dead, neither shall men have wives nor women husbands, but they shall be like the angels in heaven. And as for the fact that the dead are raised from the dead, have you not read in the book of Moses that passage about the bush, in which God said to him: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.? God is not God of the dead, but of the living. They are, therefore, very wrong”.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
The theme of the family is closely linked to the theme of God because He guides our lives and, through the people around us, especially our family, we can find Him, because He wants to be present in our lives.
The question of the Sadducees made me think about how when two people get married their whole life changes, and part of this change is that the person is accepted and with them their whole family, they become part of their family, siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. And so they become a sign that God is our common father and wants us to feel part of the same family, and even more so if they are husband and wife. Sometimes it is not easy to accept others for a variety of reasons and that is where God has to be present in our relationships because without Him, it is very difficult for us to truly love. He can teach us to demonstrate our selfless love that always wants the best for the other and goes so far as to give our life for the other.
One positive thing we could take from the attitude of the Sadducees is that they are not afraid to ask Christ about things they do not understand or that are illogical to them, but they did not want to change and that is what they lacked because when they found a different answer to what they expected and believed, they stayed with their part and did not confront the truth of Christ with their life. That is why we have to open our hearts to Christ so that we can change what we need to change and thus get closer to Him.
One aspect that is very striking in this Gospel passage is that in the resurrection at the end of time all will be brothers and sisters, since there will be no need to marry because we will be like angels, we will depend completely on God, He will fill our whole life because He will be our «better half» that in this life we find either in a partner or in a vocation, and at the end of time God will be our everything.
«This clear certainty of Jesus about the resurrection is entirely based on the God's faithfulness, who is the God of life. In fact, behind the Sadducees' question lies a deeper question: not only whose wife will the widowed woman of seven husbands be, but also whose wife will she be? whose life it will be. It is a doubt that torments the man of all times and also us: after this earthly pilgrimage, what will become of our lives? Will it belong to nothingness, to death? Jesus answers that life belongs to God, who loves us and cares so much for us, “to the point of linking his name to ours: he is «the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living, because for Him all live”. Life subsists where there is a link, It is a life stronger than death when it is built on true relationships and bonds of fidelity. On the contrary, there is no life when we pretend to belong only to ourselves and live as islands: in these attitudes death prevails. It is selfishness. If I live for myself, I am sowing death in my heart.»
(Angelus of H.H. Francis, 10 November 2019).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
Pray for that family member with whom I don't get along so well or for someone with whom I have a fight.
Farewell
We thank You, Lord, for all Your benefits, You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
