WHERE TO FIND RESURRECTION

Something there is that needs a crucifixion. Everything that’s good eventually gets scapegoated and crucified. How? By that curious, perverse dictate somehow innate within human life that assures that there’s always someone or something that cannot leave well enough alone, but, for reasons of its own, must hunt down and lash out at what’s good.

What’s good, what’s of God, will always at some point be misunderstood, envied, hated, pursued, falsely accused, and eventually nailed to some cross. Every body of Christ inevitably suffers the same fate as Jesus: death through misunderstanding, ignorance, and jealousy.

But there’s a flipside as well: Resurrection always eventually trumps crucifixion. What’s good eventually triumphs. Thus, while nothing that’s of God will avoid crucifixion, no body of Christ stays in the tomb for long.

God always rolls back the stone and, soon enough, new life bursts forth and we see why that original life had to be crucified. (“Wasn’t it necessary that the Christ should so have to suffer and die?”) Resurrection invariably follows crucifixion. Every crucified body will rise again. Our hope takes its root in that.

But how does this happen? Where do we see the resurrection? How do we experience resurrection after a crucifixion? Scripture is subtle, though clear, on this. Where can we expect to experience resurrection? The gospel tell us that, on the morning of the resurrection, the women-followers of Jesus set out for the tomb of Jesus, carrying spices, expecting to anoint and embalm a dead body.

Well-intentioned but misguided, what they find is not a dead body, but an empty tomb and an angel challenging them with these words: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Go instead into Galilee and you will find him there!”

Go instead into Galilee. Why Galilee? What’s Galilee? And how do we get there?

In the gospels, Galilee is not simply a geographical location, a place on a map. It is first of all a place in the heart. As well, Galilee refers to the dream and to the road of discipleship that the disciples once walked with Jesus and to that place and time when their hearts most burned with hope and enthusiasm.

And now, after the crucifixion, just when they feel that the dream is dead, that their faith is only fantasy, they are told to go back to the place where it all began: “Go back to Galilee. He will meet you there!”

And they do go back to Galilee, both to the geographical location and to that special place in their hearts where once burned the dream of discipleship. And just as promised, Jesus appears to them. He doesn’t appear exactly as he was before, or as frequently as they would like him to, but he does appear as more than a ghost and a memory.

The Christ that appears to them after the resurrection is in a different modality, but he’s physical enough to eat fish in their presence, real enough to be touched as a human being, and powerful enough to change their lives forever.

Ultimately that’s what the resurrection asks us to do: To go back to Galilee, to return to the dream, hope, and discipleship that had once inflamed us but has now been lost through disillusionment.

This parallels what happens on the road to Emmaus in Luke’s gospel, where we are told that on the day of the resurrection, two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem towards Emmaus, with their faces downcast.

An entire spirituality could be unpackaged from that simple line: For Luke, Jerusalem means the dream, the hope, and the religious centre from which all is to begin and where ultimately, all is to culminate. And the disciples are “walking away” from this place, away from their d

Since their dream has been crucified, the disciples are understandably discouraged and are walking away from it, towards some human solace, despairing in their hope: “But we had hoped!”

They never get to Emmaus. Jesus appears to them on the road, reshapes their hope in the light of their disillusionment, and turns them back towards Jerusalem.

That is one of the essential messages of Easter: Whenever we are discouraged in our faith, whenever our hopes seem to be crucified, we need to go back to Galilee and Jerusalem, that is, back to the dream and the road of discipleship that we had embarked upon before things went wrong. The temptation of course, whenever the kingdom doesn’t seem to work, is to abandon discipleship for human consolation, to head off instead for Emmaus, for the consolation of Las Vegas or Monte Carlo.

But, as we know, we never quite get to Las Vegas or Monte Carlo. In one guise or another, Christ always meets us on the road to those places, burns holes in our hearts, explains our latest crucifixion to us, and sends us back – and to our abandoned discipleship. Once there, it all makes sense again.

IS JESUS RELEVANT TODAY?

Many think that Jesus Christ wants us to become religious. They think Jesus came to take all the fun out of life, and give us impossible rules to live by.

They are willing to call him a great leader from the past, but say he is not relevant to their lives today.

Josh McDowell was a college student who thought Jesus was just another religious leader who set up impossible rules to live by. He thought Jesus was totally irrelevant to his life.

Then one day at a student union lunch table McDowell sat next to a vibrant young coed with a radiant smile. Intrigued, he asked her why she was so happy. Her immediate reply was, “Jesus Christ!”

Jesus Christ? McDowell bristled, firing back:

“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t give me that garbage. I’m fed up with religion; I’m fed up with the church; I’m fed up with the Bible. Don’t give me that garbage about religion.”

But the unfazed young coed calmly informed him,

“Mister, I didn’t say religion, I said Jesus Christ.”

McDowell was stunned. He had never considered Jesus more than a religious figure, and didn’t want any part of religious hypocrisy. Yet here was this joyful Christian woman talking about Jesus as someone who had brought meaning to her life.

Christ claimed to answer all the deep questions about our existence. At one time or another, we all question what life is all about. Have you ever gazed up at the stars on a pitch-black evening and wondered who put them there? Or have you ever seen a sunset and thought about life’s biggest questions:

• “Who am I?”
• “Why am I here?”
• “Where am I going after I die?”

Although other philosophers and religious leaders have offered their answers to the meaning of life, only Jesus Christ proved his credentials by rising from the dead. Skeptics like McDowell who originally scoffed at Jesus’ resurrection, have discovered that there is compelling evidence that it really occurred.

Jesus offers life with real meaning. He said that life is much more than making money, having fun, being successful, and then ending up in a graveyard. Yet, many people still try to find meaning in fame and success, even the greatest superstars.

Click here to read page 2 of 10 about "Is Jesus Relevant Today?"

THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING

Suffering, either in this world or the world to come, is a subject no one likes to think about. In our day, and, in particular, the Western culture, suffering is seen as an evil to be avoided at all costs. Not much has changed since Jesus suffered a horrible, shameful death on the Cross - with His Mother witnessing and sharing His agony.

Suffering - yes, it is a mystery. Yet if we wish to share in the glory of Jesus' Resurrection, we must be prepared to accept what He accepted - suffering for the sake of others in union with Jesus. All He did was for others. That's where suffering begins to make sense.

Jesus -- the Son of God -- was willing and eager to share in our sufferings. He experienced all of them in His flesh. Some might be tempted to say, "Suffering is evil -- the root of all evil." But that was what Peter thought when Jesus told him he would suffer, be crucified and die, and on the third day be raised again. Jesus rebuked Peter abruptly, and told him what was truly evil: "Get behind me, Satan".

No Cross, no Resurrection - no dying to self, no new life in Him.

 For the majority of souls, self-will, self-love asserts itself: "My will be done, not yours, Lord." We are not willing to embrace suffering. We are not willing to be generous with our suffering and offer it for the salvation of souls, as Our Lady at Fatima lamented.

Most souls will not be ready to see Love in His Absolute Purity and Goodness. We have been blinded by our own selfishness, and have fallen for the ancient temptation 'to be like gods'. We want our way.

Most souls will to go to purgatory - to be cleansed, to be purified. One account, in particular, highlights this desire. St. Gertrude saw, in a vision, a very devout nun standing before Our Lord, but was unable to gaze at His Face. She backed away as He beckoned her to come. When the Saint asked her why she did not go to Him, she replied that she was not yet cleansed of every stain left on her soul by her sins. She knew she was not pure enough, and wanted to be purified. She chose to be purified in purgatory.

God is Love -- and if He suffered, and if we wish to call ourselves Christians, His followers, we must do the same, for the same reason. Blessed Mother Teresa once said,"when suffering comes to us, we should accept it with a smile, because it is the greatest gift that God gives us. It is a gift to have the courage to accept everything that He sends us."

The choice is ours. We can love now, as He loved, and willingly accept and offer our suffering for others. By doing so, we will show our love for Him and gain great merit. Or we can wait, and have it imposed later, by purifying necessity, with no merit.

JESUS' RESURRECTION

Jimmy Akin

St. Paul is adamant about the importance of Jesus' Resurrection to the Christian faith. He tells us: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" (1 Cor. 15:17-18).

Fortunately for us, there is a huge amount of evidence that Jesus' Resurrection really happened--that it is a true miracle, one that we can believe in. We can only cover a fraction of that evidence in this email, but here are seven key points:

1. The Empty Tomb

The starting point for proving Jesus' Resurrection is the fact that his tomb was empty. When the disciples visited it (e.g., Luke 24:12, John 20:3-9), they found it empty. This calls for an explanation.

The explanation that they offered was that he had been raised from the dead. Before we look at why they said that, let's look at a couple of additional points that confirm that the tomb really was empty.

2. Opponents Agree

The Jewish authorities agreed that Jesus' tomb was empty. If they had not also found the tomb empty then they would have simply pointed to the presence of Jesus' body as evidence that he had not been raised from the dead.

They, too, needed an explanation for this fact--only one that did not imply the Resurrection. Matthew records that many first century non-Christian Jews claimed that the disciples stole the body (Matt. 28:11-15).

This is implausible because the Jewish authorities themselves had gone to the Roman governor, Pilate, and arranged to have a guard set over the tomb to prevent precisely this (Matt. 27:62-66). Such guards would have faced severe consequences had they fallen asleep and let anyone violate what they were guarding. This is why the authorities had to give them money and promise to protect them for telling this story (Matt. 28:12, 14).

3. Women Were the First Witnesses

All four gospels record that women were the first people to find the tomb empty (Matt. 28:5-8, Mark 16:2-8, Luke 24:1-8, John 20:1-18). This is significant because, due to the prejudices of the day, women were often regarded as unreliable witnesses.

Consequently, if you were making up a story that you wanted people to believe, you would not make women the first witnesses to the key fact. The fact that the gospels record that women were the first witnesses to the empty tomb (and, in Mary Magdalen's case, as the first witness to the risen Christ) is therefore a mark of truth.

  4. Post-Resurrection Appearances

  So far we have looked at evidence that Jesus' tomb was empty. Now we turn to why his disciples said he had been raised from the dead. Simply put: They saw him alive and interacted with him after his death (Matt. 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21).

And it wasn't just his immediate disciples. According to St. Paul more than 500 individuals witnessed him alive after his Resurrection, many of whom were still alive to be questioned about the fact (1 Cor. 15:6).

5. Jesus' Broken Heart

One could claim that Jesus was able to appear alive after the Crucifixion if he didn't really die on the Cross. Perhaps he just appeared to die or, as some have put it, he "swooned" on the Cross. This is impossible because of a fact John records: When Jesus died, a Roman centurion pierced his side with a lance and blood and water flowed out (John 19:34).

In the ancient world, they wouldn't have known the medical explanations for this phenomenon we well as we do, but to produce this kind of effect both extreme prior trauma and a deep body cavity puncture wound by the spear (likely piercing the pericardium--the sac that surrounds the heart) are required. Nobody could have survived that, particularly not in the ancient world and without even primitive medical care administered. (He was hurriedly buried, remember?)

6. Twin? . . . What Twin?

One also could claim that Jesus didn't really die on the Cross--or, if he did, that it wasn't really him who appeared alive afterwards--if someone else looked just like him, enough to fool his own disciples. In other words, if he had a twin.

But only about 1 in 300 people have an identical twin in the first place. It's a rare phenomenon.

And if Jesus did have an identical twin, people would have known about it. Certainly, his family would have, and his close associates would have known as well.

Think about it: If you knew someone who had an identical twin and you seemed to see him after his death, what would you think? That he had risen from the dead or that you were seeing his twin? Or perhaps that it was his twin who died. Either way, you would think that there was a perfectly natural explanation other than Resurrection.

7. You Don't Die for a Lie

If it was really Jesus who died on the Cross, and if he had no twin, and if his disciples reported him alive afterwards then this could have been false if they were lying.

Were they?

The evidence says otherwise.

While we don't have as much information as we would like, we do have information about where Jesus' core disciples (the apostles) went to preach after his ministry. There they faced significant persecution, as well as martyrdom for the faith.

They were already dying for their faith when the New Testament was being written, as the cases of St. James son of Zebedee (Acts 12:1-2) and St. Peter show (John 21:18-19).

What we don't have is an instance of any of Jesus' disciples saying, "Hey, I wasn't serious. Jesus didn't die and rise again. It was all a hoax or a mistake or a spiritual allegory of some kind. You can let me go now."

Nowhere, anywhere that the Christian message went, do we find that.

The apostles were willing to die for their faith, and as it has often been quipped, "You don't die for a lie."

We are truly fortunate that, by God's providence, we have evidence for the Resurrection of Christ that, even 2,000 years later, is substantial enough to stand up under cross-examination.

There have been all kinds of alternative theories proposed, but a reasoned look at the evidence reveals the problems with each one.

The case for the Resurrection is solid. And so is the basis of our faith.

THE HOLY ROSARY

Make the sign of the cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Then: One (1) Our Father...Three (3) Hail Marys...One (1) Glory be.

Start each Decade by meditating on the Mystery. On the large bead say the Our Father. On the ten small beads say ten Hail Marys. Then recite the Glory Be.

At the end of every decade, recite the following:

O Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell, bring all souls to heaven, especially those who are in more need of your mercy.

MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY

JOYFUL: (Mondays and Thursdays)

The annunciation
The visitation
The nativity
The presentation in the temple
The finding of the child Jesus in the temple

SORROWFUL: (Tuesdays and Fridays)

The agony in the garden
The scourging at the pillar
The crowning with thorns
The carrying of the cross.
The crucifixion and dead of our Lord

GLORIOUS: (Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays)

The resurrection
The ascension
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles
The assumption
The coronation of the blessed Virgin

LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Lord, have mercy on us
Christ, have mercy on us
Lord, have mercy on us
Christ, hear us
graciously hear us
God the Father of heaven
Have mercy on us
God the Son, redeemer of the world
Have mercy on us
God the Holy Spirit
Have mercy on us
Holy Trinity, one God
Have mercy on us
Holy Mary*
Holy mother of God
Holy Virgin of virgins
Mother of Christ
Mother of the Church
Mother of divine grace
Mother most pure
Mother most chaste
Mother inviolate
Mother undefiled
Mother immaculate
Mother most amiable
Mother most admirable
Mother of good counsel
Mother of our Creator
Mother of our Savior
Virgin most prudent
Virgin most venerable
Virgin most renowned
Virgin most powerful
Virgin most merciful
Virgin most faithful
Mirror of justice
Seat of wisdom
Cause of our joy
Spiritual vessel
Vessel of honor
Singular vessel of devotion
Mystical rose
Tower of David
Tower of ivory
House of gold
Ark of the covenant
Gate of heaven
Morning star
Health of the sick
Refuge of sinners
Comforter of the afflicted
Help of Christians
Queen of angels
Queen of patriarchs
Queen of prophets
Queen of apostles
Queen of martyrs
Queen of confessors
Queen of virgins
Queen of all saints
Queen conceived without original sin
Queen assumed into heaven
Queen of the most holy Rosary
Queen of the families
Queen of peace
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the mundi. sins of the world.
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
Have mercy on us.

We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despice not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever glorious and blessed Virgin. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech you,mine, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ, your Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord.



Amen

For the needs of the Church and of the State.

Our Father...Hail Mary...Glory Be.
For the person and intentions of the (Arch) Bishop of this diocese.
Our Father...Hail Mary...Glory Be.
For the holy souls in purgatory.
Our Father...Hail Mary...
May they rest in peace. Amen.

THE MEMORARE

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

HAIL, HOLY QUEEN (This anthem is attributed to Adhemar de Monteil, Bishop of Le Puy(+1098). The three final invocations were added by St.Bernard (1091-1153)

Hail, Holy Queen, mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To you do we cry poor banished children of Eve! To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus! O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!.



-. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.



-. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.



Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, by the co-operation of the Holy Spirit, you prepared the body and soul of Mary, glorious Virgin and Mother to become the worthy habitation of your Son; grant that by her gracious intercession, in whose commemoration we rejoice, we may be delivered from present evils and from everlasting death. Through the same Christ our Lord. -. Amen.



May divine assistance remain with us always.



Amen.