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 out ‘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.”

The Sadducees are still around today.  Today’s Gospel describes the Sadducees at the time of our Lord—a group of Jewish people that did not believe in the afterlife, or eternal life.  For them it was live a good life, an even an honest life, but once you are dead, you are dead. That is it.  But we cannot be that way because our life with Christ is about this life but also about life eternal.

I just returned with the parish-sponsored trip to Sicily and Southern Italy.  There were twenty-five of us, and the trip went very well (Thank you for your prayers!).  We, too, did the same for all of you. 

I found the people of Southern Italy and Sicily very nice to be with. They are excellent workers and get results. They love family, good food, and they walk a lot.  They often are very busy about their daily lives and reminded me of our often-busy, American schedules. 

And I did notice this would often happen:  When they saw me wearing the Roman Collar of the priest, they would stop and approach me. In Palermo, a mother walking two little children on each side of her and a baby carriage in the middle, stopped and asked, “Padre, would you give my children and me a blessing?” 

“Ma Certo”, I replied, and oh what smiles of content they showed!

The group also visited the cathedral in Monreale in Palermo, Sicily, and even though there were a couple hundred visitors, word traveled fast that a priest had was there with a group.  They saw the collar.  Very soon, from the sanctuary, came a priest with his Roman collar who was the Rector of the Cathedral.  We met, shook hands, and I shared with him that I was also the rector of the pontifical basilica of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Youngstown.  We took a picture together, and I asked the priest to give us all his blessing. What a happy meeting!

Later that week, we were walking down the busy streets of Pompeii as people were going to Mass, and walking as families. And before me came a young boy in his First Communion white outfit.  The parents told me about the boy and said his sister made her First Communion last year.  I blessed each of them in Italian, and then the family.  I looked around us, and I finally noticed that there was a crowd of fifty people watching! So I blessed them too! It was wonderful. 

Coming back home, at the international Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Rome, a man in his late thirties spotted the Roman collar and stopped me.  He open the collar of his shirt, pulled out his scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and showed it to me.  “I wear it all the time,” he beamed.  I shared with him that I was the rector of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Youngstown in the USA  and also wear the Brown Scapular as I gave him a blessing.  

Anyway, this is my thinking: amazing how a little Roman collar can remind busy, busy people of God of the fact that there is more to life than just this world!  That my dear friends is the Gospel today.  Christ is with us today, every day but also wants to be with us after this life …

Do not be like the Sadducees who say once you are dead, you’re dead. Do whatever it takes and all that it takes to prepare yourself for eternal life!

Monsignor Michael J. Cariglio, Jr., Pastor & Rector, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica and Saint Anthony Parish

It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested
and tortured with whips and scourges by the king,
to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.
One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said:
“What do you expect to achieve by questioning us?
We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”

At the point of death he said:
“You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life,
but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.
It is for his laws that we are dying.”

After him the third suffered their cruel sport.
He put out his tongue at once when told to do so,
and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words:
“It was from Heaven that I received these;
for the sake of his laws I disdain them;
from him I hope to receive them again.”
Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man’s courage,
because he regarded his sufferings as nothing.

After he had died,
they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way.
When he was near death, he said,
“It is my choice to die at the hands of men
with the hope God gives of being raised up by him;
but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”

R. (15b)  Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
My steps have been steadfast in your paths,
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Keep me as the apple of your eye,
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Brothers and sisters:
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement
and good hope through his grace,
encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed
and word.

Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us,
so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified,
as it did among you,
and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people,
for not all have faith.
But the Lord is faithful;
he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you,
you are doing and will continue to do.
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God
and to the endurance of Christ.

It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace you as if you were already there

And unite myself wholly to you.

Never permit me to be separated from you.

Amen.