It was with true malice that the Saducees approached Jesus with the question that they thought would make the doctrine of the Resurrection appear utterly ridiculous. And it might have, believing the crude manner that they did— that in our resurrection from the grave we would all have the same human bodies with all the needs and instincts that we now have.

But Jesus tells them differently. We will rise with entirely new bodies—like those of angels and we will be free of our human needs.

Our own death and resurrection is something we rarely contemplate, and if we do, it is usually the death aspect that we think about: When? How? Where? Do we ever really think about our resurrection?

We do wonder what heaven will be like. The New York Times Best Seller list can attest to that! Several years ago 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper spent at least a couple years on the list. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo about his 3 year old son’s experience in heaven is nearing 3 years on the list and is still #19 and after 51 weeks, Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander still comes in at #2. (As of the week of October 20th.) We all want to know, but none of us will ever truly know until the end of our life journey.

St. John wrote: “Beloved, we are God’s children now. What we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.” (1 John Ch 3:2-3)

What we must realize is that the resurrection—our resurrection must focus on God and His promises. When we focus on ourselves, we get caught up on: Will I need glasses? Will I still be in pain? Will I be able to hear? Will I recognize my loved ones?

God has created us and will love us forever. He will never let us go. He came into the world as “Emmanuel”—God with us. He has promised “I will be with you always until the end of the age”(Mt 28:20) God’s “age” is forever. We have only to keep Him in our sight.

Linda Caminiti