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I have so much to do (today) that I should spend the first three hours in prayer.
- Martin Luther (1483-1546)
(There you have it! It's when we're busiest that we most need prayer.)
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Tb 3:1-11a, 16-17a; Ps 25:2-3, 4-5ab, 6
and 7bc, 8-9 Mk 12:18-27 Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying,
"Teacher,
Moses wrote for us,
If someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven
brothers.
The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left
no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to her."
Jesus said to them, "Are you
not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in
heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly
misled." USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
“At that very time, the prayer of these two suppliants was heard in the glorious
presence of Almighty God.” —Tobit 3:16 God heard the prayers of Tobit and Sarah instantly (Tb 3:16). He also answered their prayers quickly, sending the angel Raphael to work out the glorious answer to their prayers (Tb 3:17). Indeed, this answer far exceeded anything Tobit and Sarah could ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). Yet it took some time for the answer to those prayers to
unfold. The unfolding process was as important as the actual answer to the prayer. Day after day Tobit and Sarah had to persevere in their faith in God, despite not seeing any results from their petitions. Yet “hope is not hope if its object is seen” (Rm 8:24). God has let us see many of His works.
Nevertheless, so much is happening in the spiritual world that we cannot see. Tobit and Sarah clung to those past mercies of God, and faced each difficult day trusting in His future mercies. “The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, His mercies are not spent; they are renewed each morning, so great is His faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23). Can you hope in God’s mercy and kindness when your prayers are
seemingly not being answered? Can you trust God when His timing differs from your hopes? Persevere in hope. Pray: “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief” (see Mk 9:24). Prayer: Father, I will trust in You at all times (Ps 62:9), especially when I am blind to Your action. Presentation Ministries
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-Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part One, Chapter 6: Meaning in Life and History - Selected
quotes The follower of Jesus has much to live for. Life, for this person, can be charged with meaning at every turn. Opportunities to extend love, each in a unique way according to the talents possessed, present themselves many times each day.
Truth is seemingly inexhaustible in its richness. The demands of justice are greater than ever before, calling for eager servants to stand with the oppressed. A world of beauty awaits the attentive. Personal growth in these and other areas may be experienced all through life. There is no reason
at all ever to become bored with life, for the adventure of growing in Christ is never completely finished. Paperback and eBook versions
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