Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time (June 7, 2017): A foretaste of heavenly love

Tobit 3:1-11a, 16-17a
Ps 25:1-9
Mark 12:18-27
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060717.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_06_07.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

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.”

The Book of Tobit tells an interesting story. It was written as a fictional story, like an extended parable, possibly based on true people, to teach piety and morality, especially in marriage. The tale is interwoven with lessons about help from angels and the importance of prayer and fasting.

Tobit is a God-loving, wealthy Israelite who, with other captives, had been deported to Nineveh. After a series of misfortunes, he sends his son, Tobiah, to far-off Media to fetch money. Tobiah is met by a man who is really the archangel Raphael, the angel of healing.

Meanwhile, a young lady named Sarah has been crying to God. She has had seven husbands, all of whom were killed on their wedding night by a demon named Asmodeus. Raphael takes Tobiah to meet her. They fall in love, but she’s afraid that if they marry, Asmodeus will kill him. With God’s help, they defeat the demon and live happily ever after.

This story has lessons for all of us, married or not. I can’t explain it sufficiently in this brief reflection, so please take time to read the whole Book of Tobit. Read it like a novel and keep an eye open to what it teaches about God’s helpfulness.

I can personally attest as a long-time wife (Ralph and I were married in 1975) that angels and prayers, along with a mutual willingness to do whatever it takes to reach happy endings, are essential for a marriage’s survival. (Have you seen the Reflections for Couples that I’m writing in partnership with Ralph? Visit reflections-for-couples.org/.)

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus takes the message of Tobit to its ultimate truth. Marriage is an earthly image of God and his faithfulness and his unconditional love. Marriage is a gospel that God writes to reveal himself to unbelievers. Every Christian couple should examine: What kind of image of God are we portraying to the world? Are we evangelizing those around us through the example of our relationship?

Jesus said that in heaven marriage does not exist. People live like the angels. We don’t become angels; we live in love with everyone — absolutely everyone — like the angels do. Our supreme love for one another will supersede marital love. Of course my Ralph will always be special to me, but I will love you and everyone else as much as (in fact, more than) I love him now. My relationship with him is a hint of the love that I will have for everyone after I reach heaven. It’s also a hint of how I will be loved by everyone.

Imagine dying and being greeted by the spouse you divorced or the baby you aborted or the friend you tossed aside. Will you be ready to give him or her a love that’s greater than the strongest love you have experienced on earth? Don’t worry; your distaste for loving everyone completely and unconditionally will be purged from you. Thank God for purgatory!

Are you suffering from wounds inflicted by others? Do you feel weary from a difficult relationship? I’ve put 20 of my reflections about this into an e-book entitledThe Path to Healing in Difficult Relationships,published by Catholic Digital Resources. Please seecatholicdr.com/ebooks/relationships.htm. And watch this short video www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wOOMtmiHyc

Today’s Prayer:Lord: May my works always be favorable for eternal life. May the hope of arriving one day at Your dwelling be my support, peace and confidence whenever I lose someone I love. Amen.