Msgr. Don discusses the shadow of religion and what God really wants from us for his love.

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Msgr. Don talks about why it is important to start listening and trusting the voice that sits deep inside of you.

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Msgr. Don reflects on how our willingness to be completely open to God is when he is able to help us most.

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Gospel

Luke 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

came forward and put this question to Jesus, 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 but died childless.

Then the second and the third married her,

and likewise all the seven died childless.

Finally the woman also died.

Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?

For all seven had been married to her.”

Jesus said to them,

“The children of this age marry and remarry;

but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age

and to the resurrection of the dead

neither marry nor are given in marriage.

They can no longer die,

for they are like angels;

and they are the children of God

because they are the ones who will rise.

That the dead will rise

even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,

when he called ‘Lord’

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;

and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,

for to him all are alive.”

Some of the scribes said in reply,

“Teacher, you have answered well.”

And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

Reflection

The Sadducees who did not believe in life after death, are pretty literal in their misunderstandings of what it means to die. When you die, and this is before the final coming of Jesus, you're in a place where it's not like the earth. People are not marrying and not marrying in those places, but they are rather in a place where they have a powerful impact on us.

They're like angels. Angels are messengers. So we have in this story a beautiful image of praying to those who have died for their help, for their wisdom, their understanding. It's a very deep mystery, but a beautiful way of understanding what happens to us after we die, before God's kingdom is established.

Closing Prayer

Father, you are constantly reminding us of your generosity. Your longing that we be saved and be with you. You fill us with an understanding of compassion and forgiveness. Help us to feel that presence, knowing that we've been given a promise of a place where we will be able to wait for the final kingdom and be in touch with one another. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Gospel

Luke 19:45-48

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out

those who were selling things, saying to them,

“It is written,

My house shall be a house of prayer,

but you have made it a den of thieves.”

And every day he was teaching in the temple area.

The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,

were seeking to put him to death,

but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose

because all the people were hanging on his words.

Reflection

It's not hard to believe in any system that engages someone in something that is meaningful and purposeful can be turned through corruption into something very different. Instead of the temple being a place where you could encounter God, it was clear that it turned out to be a place that was making money for those who were running the temple.

It's a reminder of how often that we see in religion, those who run a religion get caught up in money and power, and it ruins the heart of what a religion is about. Creating a place of intimacy with God through ritual and through teachings. That's the work of the church. Not to take power, not to serve the needs of those who are in charge.

Closing Prayer

Father, for all of us who are ministers of your word, bless us with an understanding of what we're here to accomplish. Not to control behavior. Not to tell people what they have to do, but rather to invite them into a relationship with God that is transformative. That brings life, hope, and fullness. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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