'Tis also the festival of Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew, Religious, O.C.D. (circa 1549-1626): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Weekday
The Book of Tobit, chapter three, verses one thru eleven(a), sixteen, & seventeen(a);
Psalm Twenty-five, verses two & three, four & five(a,b), six & seven(b,c), & eight & nine;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter twelve, verses eighteen thru twenty-seven.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is debating the materialists of his day, the Sadducees, those who deny the resurrection. They put forward an almost comical case of the seven brothers who died leaving no descendants for the widow. They ask, “At the resurrection whose wife will she be?” Jesus brushes aside this bit of facile casuistry.In my recent debates with the Mormon missionaries Elders Tango & Cash*, I proposed to them this very Scripture passage, more to gain an understanding of the Mormon doctrine of "celestial marriage" than the now-discarded practice (at least within the main L.D.S. church) of polygamous marriage. The youthful Elders replied that marriages do indeed last forever, contrary to what the Lord says to the Sadducees, it's simply that marriages won't be performed any longer after the resurrection; of course, the deceased can still be married, by proxy, those marriages just need to be performed (the decedent's consent be damned!) before the deadline of the resurrection.
The body is a means of communication. The most intense personal communication possible is that which happens between two married people—sexual, psychological, personal intimacy. Given the limitations and restrictions of our bodies here below, this type of intimacy is possible only with one other person.
The heavenly state involves a body, too, but a transformed, transfigured, elevated body, what Paul called a spiritual body. It is still a means of communication, but now it is so intense and spiritualized that it can mediate an intimate communion with all those who love the Lord. We are not less than bodily in heaven; we are super-bodily. We communicate more extensively and more intimately, and with everyone. Hence, in heaven we are not given to one person in marriage, but to all. All of this becomes plain in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of Mormon nuttiness. I genuinely tried not to prejudge their beliefs, but it turns out what they are just as heretical & preposterous as many critics of Mormonism have claimed. My sincere prayer is that one day Tango & Cash, who are earnest youths of good will, will come to know the true Christian faith & abandon the Mormon apostasy.
*Code Name: CHAOS
Normally, Elder Cash would have been code named "Charlie," as his surname (which is not Cash) begins with the letter C, which is rendered as Charlie in the N.A.T.O. phonetic alphabet. However, since his partner's surname begins with the letter T, & his code name is thus "Tango," I could not resist the reference to the awesomely awful '80s buddy-cop action movie Tango & Cash.
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