When it’s all said and done, the vast majority of all human hang ups, concerns, rules, and boundaries will pass away. The structures for governing society, social norms, and even morality itself, will no longer be needed when we arrive in the heavenly Jerusalem. Here on earth, we are limited human beings, broken by sin and inclined to go against God’s will in service of lesser goods. We seek after power, prestige, wealth, and pleasure rather than love of God and love of neighbor.
In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees come to Jesus with a very human, earthly focused question about the “rules” of heaven. They are taking human logic and trying to apply it to heavenly realities. The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, so they have come up with a ridiculous situation of a woman in heaven with seven husbands. They contest that the functions and realities of the present society will continue in heaven and ask whose wife she will be.
Jesus explains that they do not understand what’s really going on here. When the resurrection happens, all things will be made new in ways we cannot understand. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, where human laws and societal norms are no longer needed. We will be restored to perfection in God’s perfect will for humanity. We will experience a new, perfect, freedom in the resurrection. Even our relationships will be transformed and perfected. After all, what is the point of marriage here on earth?
The Catechism tells us: “‘By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God.’ This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple’s love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they ‘help one another attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.’” (1641).
The first point of the Sacrament of Marriage is holiness. Holiness has many definitions, but one of the simplest is to be close to God here on earth so that we can remain close to Him in heaven. That’s the goal and what all married couples ought to discern before their marriage and throughout their marriage. Will this person who I am choosing to spend my life with help me get to heaven and will I help them get to heaven?
God intended humanity for relationship, we can see this in the first chapters of Genesis. What these relationships will look like in a resurrected state of being, we do not know. But, we can trust that God, who is the Creator of all things, will be able to handle, transform, and perfect whatever relationships we have had on earth into new and glorified heavenly realities.
Daily Reading
Friday of the First Week of Advent
Reading 1 Isaiah 29:17-24 Thus says the Lord GOD: But a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest!…
Saint of the Day
St. John of Damascus
St. John of Damascus
Feast date: Dec 04
Catholics remember and celebrate the life of the great Arab Church Father St. John of Damascus on Dec. 4.Eastern Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics, whose tradition has been particularly shaped by his insights, celebrate the saint’s feast on the same day as the Roman Catholic Church.Among Eastern Christians, St. John (676-749) is best known for his defense of Christian sacred art, particularly in the form of icons. While the churches of Rome and Constantinople were still united during St. John’s life, the Byzantine Emperor Leo III broke radically from the ancient tradition of the church, charging that the veneration of Christian icons was a form of idolatry.John had grown up under Muslim rule in Damascus, as the child of strongly Christian parents. His excellent education – particularly in theology – prepared him well to defend the tradition of sacred iconography, against the heresy of the “iconoclasts,” so-called because they would enter churches and destroy the images therein.During the 720s, the upstart theologian began publicly opposing the emperor’s command against sacred images in a series of writings. The heart of his argument was twofold: first, that Christians did not actually worship images, but rather, through them they worshiped God, and honored the memory of the saints. Second, he asserted that by taking an incarnate physical form, Christ had given warrant to the Church’s depiction of him in images.By 730, the young public official’s persistent defense of Christian artwork had made him a permanent enemy of the emperor, who had a letter forged in John’s name offering to betray the Muslim government of Damascus. The ruling caliph of the city, taken in by the forgery, is said to have cut off John’s hand. The saint’s sole surviving biography states that the Virgin Mary acted to restore it miraculously. John eventually managed to convince the Muslim ruler of his innocence, before making the decision to become a monk and later a priest.Although a number of imperially-convened synods condemned John’s advocacy of Christian iconography, the Roman church always regarded his position as a defense of apostolic tradition. Years after the priest and monk died, the Seventh Ecumenical Council vindicated his orthodoxy, and ensured the permanent place of holy images in both Eastern and Western Christian piety.St. John of Damascus’ other notable achievements include the “Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith,” a work in which he systematized the earlier Greek Fathers’ thinking about theological truths in light of philosophy. The work exerted a profound influence on St. Thomas Aquinas and subsequent scholastic theologians. Centuries later, St. John’s sermons on the Virgin Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven were cited in Pope Pius XII’s dogmatic definition on the subject.The saint also contributed as an author and editor, to some of the liturgical hymns and poetry that Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics still use in their celebrations of the liturgy.“Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may be able to understand your faith.” – Saint John of Damascus