The Pharisees were the religious leaders in Palestine at the time of Christ. And one of the doctrines they believed in and taught was the resurrection of the dead, just as we heard it proclaimed in the First Reading.
The Sadducees, on the other hand, did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They were the political leaders of Palestine at the time of Christ. They collaborated with the Romans and enjoyed all the pleasures that come with wealth and power.
If they had believed in the Resurrection and judgment after death, they probably wouldn't have been so quick to make compromises with justice and truth just to keep a tight grip on their privileged but earthly position.
That makes us wonder: Did the Sadducees start living worldly, pleasure-cantered lives because they had lost faith in the Resurrection, or did they lose faith in the Resurrection because they began to living worldly, pleasure-cantered lives? There is an old proverb that says if we do not live according to what we believe, we will soon believe according to how we live.
This is a danger for us in the Church today because the predominant way of life in our society is not Christian.
The Church's moral teachings are laughed at and even violently opposed. This makes it harder for us to live them out - no one likes to be laughed at, and no one likes to be excluded from mainstream culture, criticized, labeled, or hated.
But if in the face of these challenges we lose courage and compromise, we could end up like the Sadducees, losing the very faith that gives meaning to our lives.
Heavenly Citizenship under Attack
There is a familiar phrase that describes the difficult situation that every Christian faces here on earth: We are called to be in the world without being in the world. We are citizens of earth, and we must be responsible citizens, but this earthly citizenship is only temporary.
Baptism gave us new citizenship. It made us citizens of Christ's eternal Kingdom. God's grace in our souls is our passport to heaven, our proof of citizenship, a citizenship that will last forever. We have been given a temporary work permit for our time here on earth. During this time, we are called to show and grow our love for our King and his Kingdom.
But there is a problem. Evil forces are at work here on earth: our ingrained selfish tendencies, the devil and his fallen angels, and a culture inundated with sin.
St Paul was keenly aware of these forces that are working against us, as we heard in the Second Reading. There he wrote to the Thessalonians that he was constantly being threatened by "perverse and wicked people" and that we need God's help to "guard us against the evil one."
We must not be naïve! We have spiritual enemies who are interested in separating us from Christ, seducing us into giving up our heavenly citizenship.
That is what happened to the Sadducees. They gave up their passports to heaven in exchange for the passing pleasures of earth.
Staying Close to Christ
We are called to be light in this world darkened by sin - but how can we keep that light shining? St Paul did it - he managed to be thoroughly in the world without being of the world. He tells us his secret in the Second Reading. He depended not on his own strength, but on God's: "... our Lord Jesus Christ... has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace."
St Paul's secret can be our secret. If we keep our friendship with Christ alive and healthy, he will never let us fall into the tragic trap of the Sadducees. St Paul writes, "The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one." If we stay close to Christ, he will take care of everything else.
And he has made it so easy to stay close to him! He is always online, ready to hear our prayers and speak to our hearts if only we turn our minds to him. He is always here in the Tabernacle, giving us a physical place where we can be near to him, truly present in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity. He is always here in every priest, ready to meet us in the confessional, forgive our sins, and arm us against future temptations.
All of us are already close to Christ. But Jesus wants us to be even closer, because he wants to do greater things in us, and he wants to protect us from our spiritual enemies.
Today, when we receive him in Holy Communion, let us talk to him about what we can do this week to fulfill that loving desire of our Lord.