Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
God Of The Living
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. For a few days we shall hear excerpts from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. It is ascribed to Paul but probably written by his disciple or scribe. It emphasises the role of both priests and laity in serving the gospel without fear.
Gospel. With arguments that are a bit difficult to follow, Jesus upholds the resurrection of the dead. God is a God of the living; his promises are not given in vain. Jesus is harsh with those who are interested in religion for the sake of arguing about doctrine but are not interested in faith.
Opening Prayer
Living God,
you are the God of the covenant
of life and loyal love.
Keep us in your love
and keep the promise of life
which you have given us
through your Son Jesus Christ
Let his life gush forth in us,
fully and richly,
until it blooms forth into life without end.
We ask this in the name of Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Greeting and Thanksgiving
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus,
to my dear child Timothy: May grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers day and night.
Faithful to the Good News
Therefore, I urge you to rekindle the gift of God you received through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and self-control.
Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord or to see me in chains. Instead, do your part in working for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.
He saved us and called us to a holy life, not based on our works but according to his own purpose and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began.
This calling has now been revealed through the glorious appearing of Christ Jesus, our Lord, who overcame death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Of this message, I was made a herald, an apostle, and a teacher.
For this reason, I am enduring this hardship, but I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed in, and I am convinced that he is capable of protecting all I have entrusted to him until that day.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven.
Behold, as the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
On the Resurrection
The Sadducees also approached Jesus. Since they deny the resurrection, they questioned him in this way:
“Master, in the Scriptures, Moses gave us this law: If anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman and, with her, have a baby who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.
Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children.
The second took the wife, and he also died, leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third.
In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all, the woman died.
Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”
Jesus replied:
“Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven.
Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you ever thought about the burning bush in the book of Moses? God said to Moses:
I am the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob.
He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are completely wrong.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– That we may keep up the good fight against all that is deadly to Christian life: dehumanizing kinds of labor, suppression of freedom, paralyzing fear, love that is destroyed, we pray:
– That our beloved dead may live on in the life they gave us, in the good we do, and in the intimate love of God himself, we pray:
– That all suffering and dying people may share in our resurrection faith and find strength in the knowledge that God loves them in life and beyond death, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
your Son Jesus Christ has brought us
the good news of life and immortality.
Through your Holy Spirit of power and life,
let this bread and wine become
the body and blood of your Son,
that we may overcome death with Jesus
and that we may live his risen life
until you let us share
in the fullness of your glory and happiness
for ever and ever.
Prayer after Communion
God of the living,
by the strength of this eucharist
fan in us the flame of your gifts.
Change us, timid people,
into people of courage,
fully alive, unafraid and not ashamed
to bear witness before all who want to see
and hear your good news
about our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son and our Saviour forever.
Blessing
Some groups of the early Christian community called themselves “the living ones.” Our faith, our sharing in the resurrection of Christ, makes us living people who live for life without end. May God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Mark 12:18-27
God of the living
Life after death is a reality that we find easier to acknowledge than to explain. We talk about it using the language of the present, which is the only means we have. The question about marriage brought up in today's Gospel is a classic example.
In Jewish law, if a man died without children, his brother was obligated to marry his widow and have children in the deceased brother's name. This situation is reflected in the Old Testament story of Tobit, where Sarah becomes the subject of ridicule from her own maidservants. Distraught after the deaths of seven husbands, she pleads with God to take her life.
The question is hypothetical and is posed by the Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection. They ask whose wife a woman would be at the time of the resurrection if she had been married to seven husbands. This question reflects the type of dodging employed by Israel’s teachers. However, Jesus shifts the focus of the discussion by explaining that in heaven there will be no marriage or childbearing. The afterlife represents an entirely new way of being.
We often speculate about the afterlife, drawing from our present experiences. However, the truth is that life after death is a mystery of God's plan, and we are meant to be a part of it. The challenges we face now are insignificant compared to the greatness that is being revealed in us. We are being saved not because of our own merit but by God’s grace. Death has lost its power, and the path to life and immortality is open to us. This has been made possible through Jesus our Saviour.