Before we wave our fingers at the Sadducees for trying to trap Jesus into revealing the resurrection as pure folly, let’s pause a moment and ask: Do I really believe in the resurrection? And if so, what does the resurrection mean in my daily life?
Jesus, of course, turns the trap into a teachable moment. God is the God of the living, including the Sadducees’ forebears Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the resurrected life is very different from earthly life. Those who rise from the dead are like the angels in heaven, alive in God’s presence.
If the resurrected life means being alive in God’s presence, then count me in.
In the here and now, being fully alive means being present to each moment and savoring the sacred within. It means giving, and giving more. It means being a contemplative in action, as Saint Ignatius would say. It means sacrifice and solidarity with and for others. It means being comfortable with who we are and where we are. It means laughing and loving.
In their track “Roll Away Your Stone,” the band Mumford & Sons offers some profound spiritual wisdom: “Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine. Together we can see what we will find.”
What if today we rolled away the stone that blocks us from being fully alive? What if we joined others on this resurrection journey?
—Jeremy Langford is the director of communications for the Midwest Jesuits and author of Seeds of Faith: Practices to Grow a Healthy Spiritual Life ©2007 Paraclete Press, Brewster, MA.