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November 8, 2016Ever since the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we have witnessed, through the eyes of Luke, Jesus steadfastly making his way to Jerusalem. In today’s Gospel, Luke places Jesus in the Temple area where he taught daily. With each passing day, Jesus’ teachings were gaining popularity. With each passing day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were getting more and more concerned about a Roman intervention.
The Pharisees and Sadducees had limited options in silencing the voice of Jesus for fear of creating an uprising among the people. So the Sadducees tried to discredit his teachings and thereby undermine his authority. As we read in the Gospel, they approached Jesus and asked him to solve a riddle based on the levirate law of marriage. The levirate law was one of the 613 mandatory Mosaic laws. This law required a man to marry his brother’s widow if his brother died without having a child. In the riddle seven brothers each in turn, had to marry the same woman because each one had died without having a child. Then the woman died. And the question that was supposed to stump Jesus was: at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?
Jesus knew the Torah. He understood that it was the sole source of divine authority for the Sadducees. He also knew that within the Torah there wasn’t any mention of an afterlife. So brushing aside the trick question of how marriage operates in heaven, Jesus instead addressed the real question: Is there an afterlife? Does heaven exist?
Although Jesus did not describe in detail what heaven looks like, He did say that heaven does exist but will not be a continuation of what we know here on earth. For example, we will no longer need earthly things such as marriage or prosperity.
Our risen Lord is, and always will be, the God of all that lives - in heaven and on earth.
He is God of the angels, archangels, and saints. He is God of all living creatures: the birds of the sky, the fish in the sea, the animals that roam the land. And yes, even though we may ignore him, trivialize him, and even mock him – he is our God too. Our Gospel question for this week asks us to focus on what we imagine heaven to be like. I hope the following scriptural passages, which I have personalized, will be of some help.
Isaiah 11:6
I expect that heaven will be a place where the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion shall browse together with a little child to guide them.
Revelation 5:13
I expect that I will hear many voices of many angels who surround the throne, along with the living creatures and the elders. They will be countless in number, and they will cry out in one voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain - to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.”
Revelation 22:5-9:
In heaven, we will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give us light. And we will reign forever and ever. The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
St Paul wrote in the Book of Romans;” Listen and I will tell you a mystery. We will not die, but we will be changed. Our mortal body must put on immortality! Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled, death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?”
For those who are unprepared, death will be viewed as a thief that deprives them of the joys of earth. But those who see with the eyes of faith will understand it to be a glorious action that transforms us from mortality into immortality; from death into life.
Scripture tells us there are many who desire to know and to experience what we know, but they cannot comprehend it, for not all people have faith.
It is only by faith that we can imagine being embraced by God and invited to live in his heavenly kingdom. It is by faith that we can imagine being reunited with parents, relatives, and other loved ones and it is by faith that we can imagine spending eternity in the company of Jesus, and his angels, and his saints.
Does heaven exist? Allow me to share one last story. In 1986, my parents died 6 months apart, Dad in February and Mom in August. At that time, our 3 boys’ ages ranged from 10 down to 4. We did not take the boys with us to either the calling hours or the funerals, simply because we thought they would be a significant disruption. Following mom’s funeral, we were exhausted and all of us headed off to our separate bedrooms. As we said goodnight to one another, it reminded me of a scene taken from the TV show the Walton’s. At the end of each episode, they show the house and then hear the family say goodnight to one another: Goodnight John Boy, Goodnight MaryEllen, Goodnight Jim Bob. Etc.
From our bedrooms, we said good night to our sons, good night David, good night Peter, good night Michael. They, in turn, said goodnight to my wife and myself. After about five minutes of perfect silence, my four year old son yelled out to me. “Hey, Dad. What Michael? God told me to tell you that your parents are okay.”
Does heaven exist? Yes, it does. And thanks to the revelation given to my four year old son, I believe my parents are okay. God bless.
