Many people have found themselves in the same place as Tobit and Sarah - discouraged, overwhelmed, and even entertaining thoughts of death. Tobit was blind and Sarah had lost seven husbands at the hand of an evil demon. Sometimes life can be too much! But both of them praised and called upon God in the depths of their despair. They did not give in to the temptation to say that there is no God or that God doesn't care. When we pray to God in the midst of suffering our prayers are powerful indeed, and God heard their prayer. Both were delivered from their suffering by the power and mercy of God.

Sometimes our ideas about God and the spiritual life need updating. The story that the Sadducees presented to Jesus about the woman married consecutively to seven husbands was designed to trick him, but Jesus - as always - was a step ahead of them. He challenged them to broaden their minds and hearts and to believe in God's power. The life of the resurrection is very different than our earthly life. Marriage is appropriate for humans but not for the angels, and that is our destiny. When we think of the world of the Spirit and our life with God we should think in terms of 'more' and 'different' - it is wonderful beyond anything we can imagine.