Daily Readings - Wed Jun 07 2017

First Reading - Tobit 3.1-6a, 7-10a, 11-13, 15b-17a

¹Then Tobit sighed, and he began to pray with tears²saying, "O Lord, you are just and all your judgments are just, and all your ways are mercy, and truth, and judgment³And now, O Lord, remember me, and do not take vengeance for my sins, and do not call to mind my offenses, nor those of my parents⁴For we have not obeyed your precepts, and so we have been handed over to plundering and to captivity, and to death, and to mockery, and as a disgrace before all the nations, among which you have dispersed us⁵And now, O Lord, great are your judgments. For we have not acted according to your precepts, and we have not walked sincerely before you⁶And now, O Lord, do with me according to your will, and order my spirit to be received in peace. For it is more expedient for me to die, than to live.⁷And so, on the same day, it happened that Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, in Rages, a city of the Medes, also heard a reproach from one of her father’s servant maids⁸For she had been given to seven husbands, and a demon named Asmodeus had killed them, as soon as they had approached her⁹Therefore, when she corrected the maid for her fault, she answered her, saying, "May we never see son or daughter from you upon the earth, you murderess of your husbands¹⁰Would you also kill me, just as you have already killed seven husbands?" At these words, she proceeded to an upper room of her house. And for three days and three nights, she did not eat or drink¹¹But, continuing in prayer with tears, she beseeched God, so that he would liberate her from this reproach¹²And it happened on the third day, while she was completing her prayer, blessing the Lord¹³that she said: "Blessed is your name, O God of our fathers, who, though you had been angry, will show mercy. And in time of tribulation, you dismiss the sins of those who call upon you¹⁵I beg you, O Lord, that you may absolve me from the chains of this reproach, or at least take me away from the earth¹⁶You know, O Lord, that I have never coveted a husband, and I have preserved my soul clean from all impure desire¹⁷I have never mingled myself with those who play. And I have not presented myself as a participant with those who walk with levity

Gospel - Mark 12.18-27

Mark

Chapter 12

¹⁸And the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, approached him. And they questioned him, saying¹⁹"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if any man’s brother will have died and left behind a wife, and not have left behind sons, his brother should take his wife to himself and should raise up offspring for his brother²⁰So then, there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and he died without leaving behind offspring²¹And the second took her, and he died. And neither did he leave behind offspring. And the third acted similarly²²And in like manner, each of the seven received her and did not leave behind offspring. Last of all, the woman also died²³Therefore, in the resurrection, when they will rise again, to which of them will she be a wife? For each of the seven had her as wife.²⁴And Jesus responded by saying to them: "But have you not gone astray, by knowing neither the scriptures, nor the power of God²⁵For when they will be resurrected from the dead, they shall neither marry, nor be given in marriage, but they are like the Angels in heaven²⁶But concerning the dead who rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, how God spoke to him from the bush, saying: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Therefore, you have gone far astray.

Sermon

The readings today invite us to reflect on the themes of faith, suffering, and the ultimate hope of eternal life. In the first reading from Tobit, we encounter two souls, Tobit and Sarah, who are deeply afflicted. Tobit, blind and humiliated, cries out to God, acknowledging His justice and mercy, while Sarah, having lost seven husbands, prays for deliverance from her reproach. Both turn to God in their despair, trusting in His providence and goodness. Their prayers are not complaints but acts of faith, expressing their belief that God can transform their suffering into something redemptive. In the Gospel, Jesus confronts the Sadducees, who question the reality of the resurrection. Using a hypothetical scenario about a woman married to seven brothers, they seek to mock the idea of an afterlife. Jesus, however, reveals their error by explaining that the resurrected life is beyond earthly marriage and human categories. He reminds them that God is the God of the living, not the dead, and that life with Him transcends death. This exchange underscores the Sadducees' spiritual blindness and their failure to grasp the power and mystery of God. These readings are connected by the theme of trusting in God’s plan, even when it seems unclear or when suffering weighs heavily upon us. Tobit and Sarah teach us to pray with sincerity and perseverance, while Jesus calls us to look beyond the limitations of this world and to hope in the eternal life He promises. In our daily lives, we are invited to embrace this same faith. When we face trials or doubts, let us turn to God with trust, knowing that He is ever-merciful and that His ways are always just. May we, like Tobit and Sarah, find strength in prayer, and may we, like Jesus, keep our eyes fixed on the eternal life that awaits us.