Waking to New Life

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

One of the (many) things I love about being Catholic is that Easter is not just one day.  It's a whole week, followed by another six weeks of joy of the risen Christ, culminating in another celebration, the "birthday" of the Church on Pentecost.  When celebrating the single greatest event in human history, the conquering of mankind's greatest, common foes--sin and death--by the God Man who came among us, celebrating for one day, or even a few days, simply will not do.  But that is not why I wanted to write today, so I'll save a few more thoughts on that for later.

Today, Easter Monday, I wanted to share a spot that Michael Voris from RealCatholicTV.com did last week, reflecting on the sheer power of the Resurrection, and speculating on what Christ's personal experience must have been like as his lifeless body was reanimated to a glorified, immortal state, and the unimaginable joy that must have been shared when he first greeted his mother, whose fiat had allowed him to take on him human flesh.




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Christ Descended Into Hell

Christ's Descent into Limbo by Jacopo Bellini, 15th century, Museo Civico, Padua, Italy

Holy Saturday has often left me at a loss for words.  In the time between our Lord's death on the cross and the joyful completion of his triumph over death in the Resurrection on the third day lies today, Holy Saturday.  In the words of the Credo, "he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day."  Though the absolute, full weight of the events of Good Friday and the Resurrection may escape us, the historical accounts given to us in Scripture give us something tangible to contemplate, something that we can take into our hearts and minds to begin to make real for us what Christ accomplished.  What has been more difficult for me is to imagine what took place during what we commemorate today, the time of silence that the Author of life spent in death.  This ancient homily, shared by Brandon Vogt at The Thin Veil, helped this morning to bridge that gap and imagine the powerful encounter of what happened when Christ descended to bring the Gospel to those who had been trapped in death since the original sin.


"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son.

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.

‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.

‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.

'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.

`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.

‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.

"The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages."


+AMDG+

Saint Joseph and Rendering Unto Caesar

"Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus," Guido Reni (c. 1635)

Today' is the feast of St Joseph, one of my personal favorite saints to whom I am devoted as the model father, leader, and guider of the Holy Family during Christ's childhood.

Today, as I was looking for some good reading about St Joseph, I came across it in what was, frankly, the least expected of places, the headlines at The New American (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite pro-Christian, pro-liberty news outlets).  The article, written by Jack Kenny, summarizes the lessons that we Christians can learn from the model of Saint Joseph about rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's (our obedience to just laws and statutes) and to God what is God's (our whole selves, made in his image and likeness).

Joseph was much more than just the strong, silent, and righteous foster father of Christ; he was also the model of what it means to be a statesman and keep the proper priority in lending our allegiances.

Saint Joseph and the Rendering Unto Caesar.

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Opening Volleys

In the past few weeks, we have seen opening shots in "the battle of our age," of the culture of life against the culture of death.  I haven't had as much time as I'd like to cover the events and share my thoughts, but there are two developments I couldn't go to bed tonight without asking you to continue to pray about:

1. Friday, on the eve of the Feast of Saint Patrick, the administration and HHS announced the expansion of the abortifacient and contraceptive coverage to include college students: LifeSiteNews.com.

2. Talk show host Glenn Beck (with whom I've had differences of opinion in the past, but respect for his apparently genuine truth-seeking), returned from the Vatican with this stark warning for Catholics: Glenn Beck Talks with Vatican Officials, Warns Catholics to Prepare for Battle - LifeSiteNews.com




And so the volleys begin...

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The Battle of Our Age

Although I'm a few days behind on the news, I was disappointed sickened today to learn that the Blunt Amendment to protect conscience rights by allowing employers to opt out of health care coverage that violates their belief failed 51-48 in the Senate and, even worse, 13 of 24 Catholic senators voted against the amendment.  That's right, over half of the Catholic senators (or so they call themselves) voted to uphold the President's attempt at circumventing First Amendment protections and silencing the voice of the Catholic Church.

The 13 Catholic Senators who voted against allowing Catholic organizations conscience rights - LifeSiteNews.com

What's worse--and nearly inconceivable--is that, had they voted in line with the faith that they claim to profess, they amendment would have passed with a solid margin.

My stomach almost began to wretch when I read that news...almost, that is, until I watched this inspiring video by Father John Hollowell.  We Catholics still have a say, and slowly but surely, as she has many times in her 2000 years, Holy Mother Church is rising from the devastation of recent scandals and poor catechesis to rediscover her identity and make her voice heard, a voice that speaks the unchanging and unchangeable truth about the dignity of human life with the authority of Christ himself.  As Father John quotes J.R.R. Tolkien to end his speech, "The board is set, the pieces are now in motion, at last we come to it - the great battle of our age.”


We, the faithful know how the story ends.  The question now is, will we have the strength to see our chapter of the fight through.  I, for one, agree with Father Hollowell and think that we shall.  So I end the day pitying those who know not the forces of heaven that are gathering against what they would try to accomplish.  While we fight, let us continue to pray through the intercession of St. Paul for their conversion.

+AMDG+