And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.
     Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to him everyone is alive.”
      Some teachers of the law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, you have spoken well.” They didn’t dare ask him anything else.

REFLECTION:
      Many of our Protestant brethren object to the Catholic practice of praying through the saints’ intercession. They ask: “How can the saints be of any help, since they are dead?” And then they quote a verse found in John’s gospel: “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day” (Jn 6:40). These Protestants conclude that the saints have not yet been raised. Consequently, how can they intercede for us?
     To this objection we can answer many things. First, the Catholic doctrine is that the death of an individual is followed by that individual’s soul being immediately judged by Christ in a particular judgment which determines that soul’s eternal destiny. At the end of time there will be a raising of bodies (what Jesus refers to in John’s gospel text). Meanwhile the soul of the saints can intercede for us in heaven (cf. CCC 1021-2. 1038, 1040).
      Second, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not a God of dead people but of living people, who can certainly intercede for us.