Pope Francis: death is behind us, in front of us God of the living
(Vatican Radio) During the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis focused on
Sunday’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus tackled the Sadducees, those who denied that
there could be a resurrection.
Listen to Giulia Cirillo's report:
The Sadducees,
Pope Francis said, put the following question to Jesus, in an attempt to ridicule
the belief in resurrection: “A woman has had seven husbands, who died one after the
other. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will that woman be?” First of all, the
Pope said, Jesus explains that life after death has different parameters from our
life on earth: eternal life is a different life, in a different dimension where, among
other things, matrimony will no longer exist. The risen, Jesus says, will be like
angels, and they will live in a different state of being, which we cannot achieve
or even imagine right now.
But then, Pope Francis continued, Jesus counterattacks,
so to speak: He finds proof of the resurrection in the episode of Moses and the burning
bush, where God reveals himself as the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. The
name of God, Pope Francis explained, is tied to the names of the men and women to
whom He ties Himself, and this tie is stronger than death. This is why Jesus affirms:
“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to Him” (Luke 20:38).
And the most important tie is with Jesus: He is the Alliance, He is the Life and the
Resurrection, because with His crucified love He defeated death. In Jesus, the Pope
said, God gives us eternal life: He gives it to everyone, and everyone, thanks to
Him, can hope to live a life even more real than this one. The life that God has in
store for us is not simply a better version of this one: it goes beyond our imagination,
because God continually surprises us with His love and mercy.
Therefore, Pope
Francis explained, what will happen is exactly the opposite of what the Sadducees
expected. This life cannot be the standard for eternity: it is eternity, on the contrary,
that illuminates our life on earth, and gives each of us hope. If we only look through
human eyes, the Pope continued, we tend to say that the path of man goes from life
towards death. But Jesus turns this perspective on its head, and affirms that our
pilgrimage goes from death towards a fuller life. So, the Pope concluded, death is
behind us, not in front of us. In front of us is the God of the living, the definitive
defeat of sin and death, the start of a new time of joy and endless light. But already
on this earth – in prayers, in Sacraments, in fraternity – we encounter Jesus and
his love, and so we can get a small taste of the risen life.