November 19, 2005
Heavenly Fruitfulness
As at Mass today, whenever we hear the Sadducees’ parable about the woman who married the seven brothers (Luke 20:27-40) it always sounds ridiculous to us. One thing is for sure: the example is overdone. But the story is also tragic, filled with pathos. Here you have a woman who had seven husbands, each of whom failed in their duty to make her fruitful, and then died. And then she died too. It raises the urgent, burning, question: “Who then will make her fruitful? Who will make her fruitful in this supposed resurrection?” This is a good question! This is a fair question.
And, according to Luke, the answer is God. Remember, the very first thing presented in Luke’s Gospel is a story about God making fruitful the barren (Elizabeth).
And don’t forget about the way he presents widows in his Gospel1. The widow Anna is a prophetess and a symbol of holiness. The woman from Nain whose son Jesus raises from the dead is a widow upon whom God bestows very special favor. And, of course, it is the widow who gets her way in the parable of the unjust judge. And what about the one with her two copper coins at the treasury? She is exemplary, according to Jesus.
In Luke’s presentation, then, the Sadducees’ naïve understanding of barrenness and widowhood provides Jesus with the opportunity to explain the profound truth of the resurrection. Whose will she be in the resurrection? No, none of the seven brothers’. She will be God’s. All those “accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead” (v. 35) will be God’s. They will be sons of God. They will be daughters of God. And in that alone will they find true happiness, true fruitfulness.
All of us have to remember this. And everyday we remind each other of it, simply by living our vocations. The union of those who are married is a sign to all of us of the unity we are each made to have with God. And the consecration of those of us who are celibate is a reminder that the unity of human marriage is a sign that won’t be necessary anymore in heaven, because it will give way to the reality.
And that fact is why I think Luke wanted to be sure to preserve for us this exchange between Jesus and the Sadducees. And I think it provides a very important reminder for those of us who are committed to celibacy. Our celibacy must never be functional or expedient, convenient or blind obedience to what simply happens to be the discipline of the Church. It must be a real anticipation of heaven. A real relationship that begins now. Our vocation will not pass away in the resurrection. Precisely how it will look is beyond what we can imagine right now, but it still truly begins now. It has to. Yes, if we are healthy, it will hurt sometimes. We should want a family now. That is a good desire, which we sacrifice. But sacrifice can’t be the primary, motivating force behind our celibacy. Instead, it must be intimacy with God, the beginning of the intimacy that we are all destined to have in heaven. Nothing else will sustain us. Nothing else is worthwhile. Nothing else will make us fruitful. Nothing else makes any sense of the “barrenness” of celibacy. Who will make the celibate fruitful in the resurrection, and even now? God will.
Br. Solanus Benfatti, CFR
1cf. Peter John Cameron, To Praise, To Bless, To Preach, vol. 3 ( Huntington: Sunday Visitor, 2000), 131.
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