Readings:
2 Tim 1:1-3, 6-12
Mk 12:18-27
Reflection
In the time of Jesus, there was mixed opinion about an afterlife. The Pharisees, like Jesus, believed in the possibility of an afterlife, but the Sadducees held the more traditional belief that reward and punishment took place in this life. They couldn’t imagine an afterlife because they compared it to what they knew of this life.
There is a story I heard about a man who went to see his doctor. He had terminal cancer but went to his doctor regularly for pain management. After his visit, as he approached the door of the surgery to leave, he stopped and turned to his doctor saying, “Doctor, I’m really scared to die. Can you tell me what is on the other side?” The doctor replied, “I don’t know.” The man was upset and said, “What? You’re a Christian and you don’t know?” With that the doctor got up and went to a side door to his surgery, and the man could hear scratching and whining noises coming from the other side. The doctor opened the door and immediately a dog came bounding in, full of excitement and jumped up on to the doctor and started licking him. The doctor said to the man, “did you see how my dog acted when I opened the door? She has never been in this room. I don’t like to leave her home when I come to work as she pines, so I bring her into the passageway in from the carpark and leave her there while I’m here. But even though she had never been in this room, the moment I opened the door, she crossed the threshold without any fear because she knew one thing – her master was on the other side.”
Fr. Ray Sanchez CP is the leader of the Oxley community and is responsible for Parish Missions and Retreats throughout Australia and NZ.