St. Mary Catholic Church ~ Chelsea, Michigan

 June 3, 2020 Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

If Jesus spoke Yiddish, the incident recorded in today’s gospel would have been an “Oy veigh!” moment in His ministry (click here). The Sadducee¹ sect did not believe in the resurrection, so they decided to propose a dilemma to Jesus, based on the custom of the Levirate Marriage², written in Deuteronomy (click here). If a brother died childless, his brother was required to marry his deceased brother’s wife, to give her a child, and thus preserve his brother’s family and lands. Jesus is amazed and saddened that The Sadducees would base their claim that there can be no resurrection on “an official rule” taken out of context to support their position, rather than examining their position in light not only of this “official rule” but also in the context of the whole of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus refutes their argument by placing this one rule in the context of the whole.

And so it is with us. When I am facing a choice, do I begin with the heart and mind of Jesus or do I try to find some way to skirt around doing what Jesus would do. In other words, would Jesus look at my decision and clap His hand to His forehead and say “Oy veigh!” or would He say “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Deacon Tom

1. Memory trick for remembering the Sadducees: “They are sad, you see, because for them there’s no belief in the resurrection.”
2. For more reading on the Levirate Marriage, (click here)  and (click here