Scripture: Mark 12:18-27
Journal: Where in your life right now are you overwhelmed by death? What is dying around you or within you? What does it mean to believe that the dead
will rise? How will that truth
effect the way you live today?
Reflection:
If we are not careful it is easy to find
ourselves believing that death has the upper hand in this life. After all, it is all around us. And even, at times, within us. Loved ones die, and we are left to deal with
the reality of life without them. Dreams
die and we are left reeling, trying to figure out what life after the dream
is supposed to look like. At times, it
is easy to believe that death has the final word. That is, evidently, what the Sadducees
believed. What a sad and hopeless
existence.
Jesus, however, comes to open our ears to a
new voice, the voice of hope and possibility.
A voice that constantly reminds us that death—be it around us or within
us—does not have the final word, life does.
Death is not the point. It is
only a means to a greater end. Life is
the point, and death is only a part of the process of new life coming into
being. In God’s economy, life always
follows death. The dead will rise. Don’t focus on, and be consumed by, the death
around you or within you. Focus on the
life that is to come, the life that the death is making room for. Don’t settle for death when God wants to use
it to make way for new life. Reach for
life.
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: Lord,
you know me better than I know myself. Your
Spirit pervades every moment of my life.
Thank you for the grace and love you shower on me. Thank you for your constant, gentle invitation
to let you into my life. Forgive me for
the times I have refused that invitation, and closed myself off from you. Help me in the day to come, to recognize your
presence in my life, to open myself to you, to let you work in me, to your
greater glory. Amen. ~Ignatius of Loyola
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