Salutations to you! How are you doing today? I hope that you are well. With the First Reading for today’s Mass (Acts 22:30, 23:6-11) I was reminded of a joke that I first heard back in the year 2000. I was in my freshman year with my twin sister at Holy Family Catholic High School out in the western metro when our theology teacher shared an important lesson and teaching with us: The religious group of the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. That is why they were sad, you see. Even twenty years after hearing that joke I still get a chuckle thinking about our theology teacher, Mr. Bosch, sharing that bit of information with us.
And yet jokes aside for a moment there is something incredibly important at stake for us as believers in Jesus Christ. One of the final statements which we profess in the Nicene Creed on a weekly basis is, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.” In a similar fashion within the Apostles Creed we boldly declare that we believe in, “the resurrection of the body.”
As Catholic Christians we are not like those Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection from the dead. We do not live merely for this life on Earth but rather for eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus on the third day gives us hope of our own resurrection from the dead. In this Easter Season we are filled with great joy and sing out, “Alleluia!” with complete and utter conviction. Perhaps we could refer to ourselves as members of the Gladducee religion for we do believe in the Resurrection of Christ and our own one day which makes us glad, you see. :)
May the God of the Living continue to bless you and give you strength in these days. Thank you for your time and attention today. Go out and be glad for the Glory of the Lord!
