No one nowadays would use the Sadducees' argument against the doctrine of the Resurrection. Nevertheless, even when we believe firmly in the resurrection of the dead, we find it difficult, like the Sadducees, to envisage what life in heaven will be like.

Today's first reading, from the second book of Maccabees, speaks of "the God-given hope of being restored to life by him". For us Christians, the Risen Christ is in person this God-given hope. All reflection on life after death must surely begin from this.

Everything which we know and understand has its roots, even if only very tiny roots, in all that we experience here on earth. A good recovery after a serious illness can help someone to grasp in some little way the meaning and joy of resurrection. But not all of us have such an experience. However, most people at sometime will have had a deep longing for a life or lifestyle which far transcends and surpasses the one we know on earth. We may reflect on this longing as "the God-given hope of being restored to life by him", instilled in our hearts by God at creation.