The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is what established Christianity as the leading religion in the world.

"The King of the world will raise us up to live for ever." (Cf 2 Maccabees 7: 9-14).

"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.” (Luke 20: 27 - 38).

Sunday November 6th 2022 of the 32nd week of Ordinary Time.

Do you know that November is the month the Church prays especially for the poor souls in purgatory? The Church prays for the souls in Purgatory because the Church believes in the Resurrection of the dead.

Do you consider yourself one of "those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead?"

It is Jesus' Resurrection from the dead that established the Church and raised it above all pagan religions in the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after the Ascension of Jesus and the Pentecost.

Therefore do not scoff at the idea of the Resurrection of the dead, eternal life, heaven and hell. Here is how Jesus responds to the Saduccees who scoffed at the truth of the Resurrection:
Jesus answered: "You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God." (Matthew 22: 29 CEV)

A Baptist friend of mine asked me once: "Why do you Catholics pray to dead 'saints' and for dead people?" I answered him by pointing to our Scripture verse for today. God Himself says that "He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Jesus silenced the Sadducees  through this Scripture. My friend had no answer.

We profess this faith:
"I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of the saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen."

If you believe in the Resurrection and life everlasting, live as you believe. Live full of faith, hope and love like the Seven Brothers in our first Reading: “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.” (Maccabees 7: 9 - 14).

In instructing the neophytes (new Christians), St Cyril of Jerusalem urged them to trust only in teachings of the Catholic Church:
“In learning and professing the faith, you must accept and retain only the Church’s present tradition, confirmed as it is by the Scriptures…. Now I order you to retain this creed for your nourishment throughout life and never to accept any alternative, not even if I myself were to change and say something contrary to what I am now teaching, not even if some angel of contradiction, changed into an angel of light, tried to lead you astray. For even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which you have now received, let him be accursed in your sight.” (St Cyril of Jerusalem, Father of the Church).

If there is no Resurrection of the dead, then the Church has deceived billions of people for over 2000 years. St John Henry Newman said  that what so many people have believed for so many centuries cannot be wrong.

"The King of the world will raise us up to live for ever." (Cf 2 Maccabees 7: 9-14).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com