Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” Mark 12:26-27
Coming into a liturgical tradition, All Saints' Day was a somewhat strange holiday to me. I grew up in a context that did not observe this feast. When I began, however, to let the liturgy do its transformative work in my heart and mind, I was suddenly struck by a line I had heard time again.
In Eucharistic Prayer A, the priest says: “Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name…” Although I had heard that line many times, the magnitude of it never dawned on me until I began to consider the implications and imagery associated with praising God with angels, archangels, and ALL the company of heaven(!)
This realization stopped me in my thoughts and captivated my theological thinking. We can cherish the fact that our God is the Living God who is the God of the living. I immediately thought back to the words of Jesus to the Sadducees when they confronted him with questions about marriage in the age to come. In their cleverness, the Sadducees understood the supposed problem of marriage as a deal-breaker for the resurrection. However, Jesus used that moment as a teaching opportunity to convey the power of God and the mystery that is "the God of the living" – especially when referring to the long deceased Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In other words, Jesus conveyed to the Sadducees that the reign of God does not stop where physical death begins. By living into this reality, we can praise God with the Angels and Archangels and all the company of heaven (e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, Mother Teresa, and more.)
May we not limit God to the community of the faithful in front of us, but also praise God with those who came before us and laid the foundation for the faith we inherited.
God bless you!
Zacher
