Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: November 22, 2025

Dr. Kate Wiskus
3 hours ago
2 min read

Date: Memorial of St. Cecilia

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 '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."

Some of the scribes said in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

In today’s gospel, Jesus counters the Sadducees denial of the resurrection by describing the resurrection in the afterlife as children of God, almost like angels. Jesus’ concluding statement that God is the God of the living, not of the dead, underscores that eternal life is a state of being in loving unity as the family of the LORD unlike our earthly relationships which include marriage.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

Do I wish to be included in the family of the LORD, the living God?

Praying:

LORD, I long for a life without end with You and with all your loving children, united with one another, at peace. Send your Spirit to guide me in this life, to open me to You and your love, to strengthen my resolve to live the life You call me to live. Amen.