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FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2021
The Observer
The Resurrection is a Guide to Our Every Action
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n the prayer and reection of the Church during the Easter Season, we regularly encounter the words of St. Paul written to the young Church in Colossae. He told them, If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. (Col 3: 1-2). Paul was writing in the context of the faith of the Church, our Catholic faith, that Jesus truly rose from the dead. Our belief, based in the testimonies of those ancient witnesses who were recorded in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, is that Jesus truly showed Himself in His body to His disciples. That resurrected body, however, was gloried. It was the body of the Jesus that they had known and loved. But now having entered into new and fuller union with the Father, it was no longer subject to death and to other limitations of our current existence. Still, it was truly Jesus. Our faith teaches us that the resurrection is an event that is rooted in human history, having truly occurred in a specic time and place. The Gospel accounts are not merely pious reections of a group that wished to justify their continued life together or express their love for their great but deceased friend. They are the testimonies of witnesses about what they saw and experienced. In some cases those witnesses even gave their lives in martyrdom rather than deny or retract what they had experienced. But the resurrection goes beyond embracing in our minds and hearts that Jesus truly rose from the grave, never to die again. Because Jesus shares human nature with us, especially in His body, our humanity has a share in Jesus's resurrection already. We are already shown the open door that we are called to pass through. This is why the words of St. Paul are so urgent for every age. They help us make fuller sense of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. Every human being is oered the possibility of joining in the resurrection of Christ. That share, however, is not simply our spiritual or intellectual embrace of the truth of the resurrection. It involves as well, conforming our lives to Jesus and His teaching so that the fullness of our humanity is joined to the perfect human nature of Jesus. We are called, then, to think at every moment and in every decision of what is above. We are to keep our minds and hearts at all times on heaven itself. How dierent we and the world would be if we did so! Think of how often we hear or perhaps even express harsh and angry words with others. The number of times in our coarsening society we encounter insulting and even profane conversations or arguments, we should be reminded of Paul's words. In such moments are we thinking of the resurrection, of what is above? To be marked as people awaiting our own resurrection, we should be people of prayer, of moral life and patience and forgiveness even toward those who have greatly wronged us. In the end, our share in the resurrection to glory is not automatic. We must make the choice of faith, of loving Christ in our bodies and in our lives as He has taught us. Life in this world oers us many distractions and temptations. Faith teaches us the hope and joy of living for the day when we are called forth from our own tomb. Our eyes and hopes should always be focused on that moment. BY BISHOP DAVID J. MALLOY
From the General Audience, Library of the Apostolic Palace, March 17
Today we will complete the catechesis on prayer as a relationship with the Holy Trinity, in particular with the Holy Spirit. The rst gift of every Christian existence is the Holy Spirit. It is not one of many gifts, but rather the fundamental Gift. The Spirit is the gift that Jesus had promised to send us. Without the Spirit there is no relationship with Christ and with the Father, because the Spirit opens our heart to God's presence and draws it into that vortex of love that is the very heart of God. We are not merely guests and pilgrims journeying on this earth, We are also guests and pilgrims in the mystery of the Trinity. We are like Abraham, who, one day, welcoming three wayfarers in his own tent, encountered God. If we can truly invoke God, calling him Abba - Dad, it is because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. He is the One who transforms us deep within and makes us experience the soul-stirring joy of being loved by God as His true children. All the spiritual work within us towards God is performed by the Holy Spirit, this gift. He works within us to carry Christian life forward towards the Father, with Jesus. The Catechism (of the Catholic Church) , in this respect, says: Every time we begin to pray to Jesus it is the Holy Spirit who draws us on the way of prayer by his prevenient grace. Since he teaches us to pray by recalling Christ, how could we not pray to the Spirit too? That is why the Church invites us to call upon the Holy Spirit every day, especially at the beginning and the end of every important action (n. 2670). This is the work of the Spirit in us. He reminds us of Jesus and makes Him present to us - we might say that He is our Trinitarian memory, He is the memory of God in us - and He makes it present to Jesus, so that He is not reduced to a character from the past. That is, the Spirit brings Jesus to the present in our consciousness. If Christ were only far away in time, we would be alone and lost in the world. Yes, we will remember Jesus, there, far away, but it is the Spirit that brings Him today, now, at this moment, in our heart. But in the Spirit everything is brought to life: the possibility of encountering Christ is open to Christians of every time and place. The possibility of encountering Christ, not only as a historical gure, is open. No: He attracts Christ to our hearts. It is the Spirit who makes us encounter Jesus. He is not distant, the Spirit is with us. Jesus still teaches His disciples by transforming their hearts, as He did with Peter, with Paul, with Mary Magdalene, with all the Apostles. But why is Jesus present? Because it is the Spirit who brings Him to us. This is the experience of so many people who pray - men and women whom the Holy Spirit has formed according to the measure of Christ, in mercy, in service, in prayer, in catechesis. It is a grace to be able to meet people like this. You realize that a dierent life pulsates in them, their gaze sees beyond. Let us not think only of monks and hermits. They are also found among ordinary people, people who have woven a long history of dialogue with God, sometimes of inner struggle, which puries faith. These humble witnesses have sought God in the Gospel, in the Eucharist received and adored, in the face of a brother or sister in difficulty, and they safeguard His presence like a secret ame. The rst task of Christians is precisely to keep alive this ame that Jesus brought to the earth (see Lk 12:49); and what is this ame? It is love, the Love of God, the Holy Spirit. Without the re of the Spirit, the prophecies are extinguished, sorrow supplants joy, routine substitutes love, service turns into slavery. The image of the lighted lamp next to the tabernacle, where the Eucharist is reserved, comes to mind. Even when the church empties and evening falls, even when the church is closed, that lamp remains lit, and continues to burn; no one sees it, yet it burns before the Lord. This is how the Spirit, in our heart, is always present like that lamp.
Prayer and the Holy Spirit, Lamp in Our Hearts
BY POPE FRANCIS
(CNS photo/C. Peri via Reuters)
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very human being is offered the possibility of joining in the resurrection of Christ.
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he first task of Christians is precisely to keep alive this flame that Jesus brought to the earth.
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