2cornucopias

Posts Tagged ‘Redemption’

, ,

Easter Sunday

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2013/03/30 at 12:00 AM
  • Today we read the marvelous story from St. Matthew’s Gospel of our Lord appearing to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection.
  • From this version of the post‐resurrection events, it seems that St. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary with her were the first to see the risen Lord.
  • Perhaps there is some consolation to be found in this thought that, despite the terrible sins of her life, our Lord found Mary Magdalene worthy of such a great honor, for this privilege proves our Lord’s deep mercy and love for even the most sinful among us.
  • However, this Gospel and the question of to whom our Lord first appeared has raised considerable speculation over the centuries, for the Scriptures do not record our Lord’s resurrection in detail.
  • From today’s Gospel we can only deduce that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were up early on Easter Sunday, found the tomb empty, and then our Lord appeared to them.
  • Conspicuously absent from all of the Post‐Resurrection narratives is the very person who was most closely united to Jesus during His life on earth: His Mother Mary.
  • Indeed, the very last we hear of Mary is at the crucifixion, when in His final act of filial solicitude, our Lord lovingly places her within the care of St. John, the disciple He loved most, and the only one to stay with Him throughout the entirety of His terrible Passion.
  • Our Catholic Tradition gives us some answers as to what happened to our Lady after Jesus died. We know that she was present as Jesus was taken down from the cross, and that she lovingly held her dead Son in her arms before He was prepared for burial.
  • We know from the Book of Acts that after Jesus ascended into Heaven, Mary was with the 11 apostles in prayer, and it is a traditional belief, as well, that Mary was present for the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
  • We know, too, that Mary spent the remainder of her life in the care of St. John, and that when the course of her earthly life was over, Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven, where she was reunited with Jesus and crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.
  • But beyond these details, we know very little of what happened to our Lady after Jesus’ death.
  • In one of his weekly audiences in 1997, Pope John Paul II took up the issue of our Lord’s resurrection appearances, stating that, although Scripture is silent on the issue, it is wholly reasonable to believe that the Virgin Mary was the first to see her risen Son.
  • He stated that: “The unique and special nature of the presence of the Virgin at Calvary, and her perfect union with the Son in his suffering on the Cross, seem to postulate a very particular participation on her part in the mystery of the Resurrection.”
  • Pope John Paul II believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary: “was probably also a privileged witness to the Resurrection of Christ, in this way completing her participation in all the essential moments of the paschal mystery.”
  • He went on to conclude with a most important point: “Embracing the risen Jesus, Mary is, in addition, a sign and anticipation of humanity, which hopes to reach its fulfillment in the resurrection of the dead.”
  • In other words, we see in the Blessed Virgin Mary our hopes for resurrection fulfilled. We see in revealed in the mysteries of her life, most especially her Assumption into Heaven, the salvation possible for us all.
  • The favors granted by God to our Lady offer proof of His goodness and mercy, and they show us what is possible for mankind: namely, the perfection of our human nature so that we may be fully and eternally united with our Lord in the glory of Heaven.
  • This is what our Lord makes possible for us through His death and resurrection, which we honor and celebrate today. And we know that this is possible, for we see how our Lord has already carried this out in the life of His Immaculate Mother.
  • For the past three days we have been recalling our Lord’s Paschal Mystery: how He suffered for us and because of us, dying a most ignoble death on the cross, and being buried in the tomb.
  • But it is not simply bare historical facts that we recall each Easter. Easter is our annual celebration of the spiritual reality made possible by Christ’s Paschal Mystery!
  • Out of love for sinful man, Christ slept the sleep of death so that we might rise with Him to new life. He went into the darkness of Hell so that we might be enlightened by His grace.
  • And He took on the bondage of sin so that we might experience the true freedom of the sons and daughters of God. This is what we celebrate today; this is what we believe
  • And in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we see our Lord’s Easter promises to humanity fulfilled. [It is for this reason that our stained glass windows depicting the Resurrection and the Assumption of Mary are placed directly opposite one another!]
  • Because she remained united with Christ throughout her life, most especially as He suffered and died on the cross, Mary now enjoys eternal life. As such, Mary is our constant reminder of the eternal blessings possible for those who believe in Christ.
  • My dear brothers and sisters, in His resurrection from the dead today, Jesus makes good on the promises to grant new and eternal life to all who believe in Him.
  • With Mary as our model, let us make good on the promises we made to Jesus at our baptism by always remaining faithful to Him in this life. In doing so, let us trust that He will grant us eternal blessedness in the life to come.

Copyright 2011 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

Advertisement

, , , , , ,

Man is a Seeker of the Absolute

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2013/02/28 at 11:11 AM

Benedict XVI, continuing a series of catecheses on the subject of Catholic faith, focused on what, he said, “is a fascinating aspect of human and Christian experience: the fact that man carries within him a mysterious desire for God”.

Such an affirmation, the Pope went on, “may seem provocative in the context of secularised Western culture. Many of our contemporaries could, in fact, object that they feel not the slightest desire for God. For large sectors of society He is no longer awaited or desired; rather He leaves people indifferent, something about which they do not even have to make an effort to express themselves.

“Yet the fact is that what we have defined as ‘desire for God’ has not completely disappeared and still today it emerges in man’s heart in many different ways. Human desire always tends towards certain concrete things which are often anything but spiritual, yet it nonetheless has to consider the question of what good truly is, and this means facing something other than itself, something man cannot construct but is called to recognise. What is it that can truly satisfy man’s desire?

“In my first Encyclical ‘Deus caritas est’ I sought to examine how this phenomenon is realised in the experience of human love, which in our time is most easily recognised as a moment of ecstasy and abandonment, a place in which man has the experience of being overcome by a desire greater than himself. Through love a man and a woman, the one thanks to the other, enjoy a new experience of the greatness and beauty of life and reality. If what I experience is not a mere illusion, if I truly wish the other’s good, also as a way to my own good, then I must be ready not to focus on my own self, to place myself at the service of the other, even to the point of self-renouncement. Thus the answer to the question about the meaning of the experience of love involves the purification and healing of desire, which is a requirement of the love we bear the other.

“We must exercise, train and correct ourselves so that we can truly love others”, Pope Benedict added. Yet “not even the beloved is capable of satisfying the desire that dwells in the human heart. Quite the contrary, the more authentic our love for another person is, the more it raises the question about the origin and destiny of that love, the possibility that it may last forever”.

“Similar considerations could also be made about other human experiences such as friendship, the experience of beauty or love of knowledge. Everything good that man experiences tends towards the mystery which surrounds man himself. Each desire that arises in the human heart is an echo of a fundamental desire which is never fully sated”.

The Holy Father went on: “Man is well aware of what does not satisfy him, but is unable to imagine or define that which would make him experience that happiness for which his heart longs. We cannot know God on the basis only of human desire. Here there is an abiding mystery: man is searching for the absolute, but his search advances with slow and hesitant steps”.

“Even in our own time, which seems so averse to the transcendent dimension” it is possible “to open the way towards an authentic religious sense of life which shows how the gift of faith is neither absurd nor irrational”, said Benedict XVI. In this context he proposed “a pedagogy of desire, … including at least two aspects: Firstly, the acquisition or reacquisition of a taste for the authentic joys of life. Not all satisfactions produce the same effect upon us; some leave positive traces and are capable of pacifying our hearts making us more active and generous. Others, on the other hand, following the initial light they bring, seem to delude the expectations that aroused them and sometimes leave bitterness, dissatisfaction or a sense of emptiness in their wake”.

A second aspect of the pedagogy of desire consists of “never being satisfied with the goals we have reached”, said the Holy Father. “It is the most authentic joys which are able to liberate within us that sense of healthy disquiet which leads us to be more demanding, to desire a more exalted or more profound good, and at the same time to becoming increasingly aware that nothing finite can fill our hearts. Thus will we learn to tend, unarmed, towards that good which we cannot construct or procure by our own efforts, without allowing ourselves to be discouraged by the fatigue or obstacles that come from our sin”.

Finally the Holy Father noted that “desire always remains open to redemption, even when it takes the wrong paths, when it seeks artificial paradises and seems to lose its capacity to desire the true good. Even in the abyss of sin man never loses that spark which enables him to recognise and savour what is truly good, and to start along the path of ascension on which God, with the gift of His grace, will not fail to give His aid”.

“This does not mean, then, smothering the desire that is in man’s heart, but liberating it so that it can reach its true height. When desire opens a window to God this is a sign of the presence of faith in a person’s heart, faith which is a grace of God”, Benedict XVI concluded.

VIS 121107

, , , ,

Seeking the Face of God

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2013/02/01 at 9:15 AM

Vatican City, 16 January 2013 (VIS) -Salvation history, that is, the account of God’s saving interaction with humanity, was the theme of the Holy Father’s catechesis during this Wednesday’s general audience.

The Old Testament narrates how, after creation, God, in spite of original sin, again offers human beings the possibility of His friendship “through the covenant with Abraham and the path of a small people, of Israel, whom He chooses not according to the criteria of earthly power but simply out of love. … For this task He used mediators, like Moses and the prophets and judges, to communicate His will to the people. They recalled the necessity of faithfulness to the covenant and kept alive the hope of the full and definitive realization of His divine promises.”

God’s revelation reaches its fullness in Jesus of Nazareth. In Him, “God visits His people, He visits humanity in a way that goes beyond all expectations. He sends His Only Begotten Son; God himself becomes man. Jesus does not tell us something about God’s nearness, doesn’t simply speak of the Father: … He reveals the face of God to us.” Within Jesus’ statement, “‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’ … the newness of the New Testament is contained. … God could be seen, God has revealed His face, He is visible in Jesus Christ.”

Benedict XVI recalled the importance of the search for the face of God throughout the Old Testament, that is, for “a ‘You’ who can enter into relationship, who is not locked away in His heaven, looking down on humanity from on high. Certainly, God is above all things, but He turns toward us and listens to us: He sees us, speaks, extends covenants, and is capable of loving. Salvation history is the story of God with humanity. It is the story of this relationship of God who progressively reveals Himself to mankind.”

“Something completely new occurs, however, with the Incarnation. The search for the face of God is unimaginably changed because this face can now be seen. It is that of Jesus, of the Son of God who is made man. In Him God’s path of revelation, which began with the call of Abraham, is fulfilled. He is the fullness of this revelation because He is the Son of God as well as ‘the mediator and the fullness of all revelation’. In Him coincide the content of Revelation and the One who reveals … Jesus, true God and true man, is not simply one of the mediators between God and humankind, but is ‘the mediator’ of the new and eternal covenant. … In Him we see and encounter the Father. In Him we can call God by the name of ‘Abba, Father’. In Him we are given salvation.”

“The desire to truly know God, that is, to see the face of God, is inherent to every human being, including atheists. Perhaps we also, unconsciously, have this desire to simply see who He is. … But this desire is fulfilled in following Christ thus … we finally see God as a friend. What is important is that we follow Christ not only when we need Him or when we find a minute of time among our thousands of daily tasks. … Our entire existence must be directed toward meeting Jesus Christ, toward love for Him. In such an existence, love for our neighbour must take a central position; that love that, in light of the Crucifix, allows us to recognize the face of Jesus in the poor, the weak, and in those who are suffering.”

VIS 130116

, , , , ,

Incarnation: God Assumes Human Condition to Heal It

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2013/01/11 at 9:09 AM

The meaning of the word Incarnation, “a term,” the Pope said, “that has resounded many times in our Churches over these past days, expressing the reality that we celebrate at Christmas: the Son of God become man, as we say in the Creed.”

The Holy Father began by explaining the meaning of this word, which is central to the Christian faith, starting from the Church Fathers, especially St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Irenaeus, who used it when “reflecting on the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel, particularly in the expression, ‘the Word became flesh’. Here the word ‘flesh’,” the Pope emphasized, “refers to the person in their entirety, precisely in light of their transcience and temporality, their poverty and contingency. This tells us that the salvation wrought by God made flesh in Jesus of Nazareth reaches the human person in their concrete reality and in whatever situation they may find themselves. God took on the human condition in order to heal it of everything that separates it from Him, in order to allow us to call Him, in his Only Begotten Son, by the name of ‘Abba, Father’, and to truly be children of God.”

Then the Pope recalled the Christmas tradition of exchanging gifts with those closest to us. Sometimes this may be a gesture undertaken out of convention but, generally, it “expresses affection. It is a sign of love and esteem.” This same idea of giving is at the heart of the liturgy of these feastdays and “it reminds us of the original gift of Christmas. On that holy night, God, becoming man, wanted to make himself a gift for humanity … he took on our humanity in order to give us His divinity. This is the great gift. … In this we find the model of our giving because our relationships, especially those which are most important, are guided by generosity and love.”

The fact of the Incarnation, of God who makes himself man like us, shows us “the unprecedented reality of divine love. God’s action, in fact, is not limited to words. Rather, we can say that He is not satisfied with speaking but immerses himself in our history and takes upon himself the worry and the weight of human life. … God’s way of acting is a strong stimulus for us to ask ourselves about the reality of our faith, which should not be limited to the arena of feeling, of the emotions, but must enter into the concrete reality of our existence, must touch, that is, our everyday life and orient it in a practical way. … Faith has a fundamental aspect that affects not only our mind and our heart but all of our life.”

Citing the Church Fathers again, the Pope observed that on numerous occasions Jesus was compared with Adam, even to the point of calling Him the “second Adam”, or the definitive Adam, the perfect image of God. With the Incarnation of the Son of God a new creation occurs, which gives a complete answer to the question ‘who is man?’ … Only in Jesus is God’s plan for human being fully revealed: He is the definitive man according to God.”

“It is important, therefore, that we rediscover our wonder at this mystery, that we let ourselves be enveloped by the grandeur of this event: God walked our paths as man. He entered into human history to give us His very life. And he did this not with the splendour of a sovereign, subjugating the world with his power, but with the humility of a child.”

“In that child, the Son of God whom we contemplate at Christmastime,” Benedict XVI concluded, “we can recognize the true face of the human being, and only in opening ourselves to the action of His grace and seeking every day to follow Him do we carry out God’s plan for us.”

VIS # 130109

,

“Jesus came to reveal the love of God to us”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2012/07/25 at 9:11 AM
Christ ascended the Cross with his arms wide open, with the all embracing gesture of the Eternal Priest. Now he counts on us – who are nothing! – to bring the fruits of his Redemption to all men. (The Forge, 4)

Let’s apply this lesson to everyday life, to our own life. For the ordinary life of a man among his fellows is not something dull and uninteresting. It is there that the Lord wants the vast majority of his children to achieve sanctity.

It is important to keep reminding ourselves that Jesus did not address himself to a privileged set of people; he came to reveal the universal love of God to us. God loves all men, and he wants all to love him — everyone, whatever his personal situation, his social position, his work. Ordinary life is something of great value. All the ways of the earth can be an opportunity to meet Christ, who calls us to identify ourselves with him and carry out his divine mission — right where he finds us.

God calls us through what happens during our day: through the suffering and happiness of the people we live with, through the human interests of our colleagues and the things that make up our family life. He also calls us through the great problems, conflicts and challenges of each period of history, which attract the effort and idealism of a large part of mankind. (Christ is passing by, 110

, ,

Good Friday by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/04/06 at 9:11 AM

• After listening to the story of our Lord’s Passion, we may be tempted to ask the simple question: why? Why did the Son of God suffer so? Why this terrible violence? Why did Jesus, Who was innocent and perfect in every way, suffer the cruel ignominy of the cross?

• At the very least His execution like a common criminal some 2000 years ago was the most unjust and heinous crime the world has ever known.

• For those of us who know that Jesus is Lord and who love Him as our savior, it is unthinkable that He suffered at our hands, and yet we know it to be true. His suffering is a truth that we cannot deny.

• The crucifixes that adorn our homes and churches, and that we wear around our necks testify to this terrible reality. Even the Sign of the Cross, that we Catholics so often make with nary a thought, bears silent and perpetual witness to man’s inhumanity to the one Man who was also God. We are haunted by the fact that man the creature murdered God the Creator.

• Regardless of when we were born into history, there is blood on our hands, for we have all sinned against the living God.

• And this sad fact begs yet another question. If Jesus truly is God, then why did He allow this? For surely God cannot be coerced or forced by even the strongest and most powerful of men to do anything. If God is truly God, then He must have chosen this.

• So why did God choose the cross? St. Thomas Aquinas gives us two answers: First, Jesusendured the shame of the cross as a remedy for sins. Secondly, He did so as an example of how we should act.

• St. Thomas tells us that the cross is remedy because “in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the Passion of Christ.” Yet the cross is also an example, “for the Passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives.”

• St. Thomas teaches us that “whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what He desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.”

• But even more than being a remedy for our sins and a pattern for our lives, the cross is our bridge to Heaven.

• Although God created us in His own image and likeness and destined us to live with Him forever in Heaven, we forfeited our rights to our eternal inheritance through our sinfulness.

• Our sins cut us off from God; they alienate us from God and bind us to this world. Yet, through the power of the cross, we have a means for passing through that veil that separates God and man, Heaven and earth.

• And in this we see the true divinity of our Lord, for only God could take a shameful instrument of execution and make it an instrument of glory and the very key to Heaven’s gate.

• With a love that we cannot fathom, Jesus pours out His mercy upon all who seek His forgiveness. The same blood that covers our hands in guilt now covers our souls with mercy!

• And that, my friends, is why Jesus endured the cross, for without the cross we would all be utterly lost. And that is why we call today Good Friday; and it is very good indeed.

• And so, my brothers and sisters, let us all confidently approach the throne of grace to receive His mercy. Come and behold Him, our savior and our king, and let us give thanks today for the gift of His holy cross, by which He has redeemed the world.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

, ,

Holy Wednesday: “Love is with love repaid”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2012/04/04 at 8:09 AM
Do you to know how to thank Our Lord for all he has done for us?… With love! There is no other way. Love is with love repaid. But the real proof of affection is given by sacrifice. So, take courage!: deny yourself and take up his Cross. Then you will be sure you are returning him love for Love. (The Way of the Cross, Fifth Station, 1)

It is not too late, nor is everything lost… Even though to you it may seem so. Even though a thousand foreboding voices keep saying so. Even though you are besieged by mocking and skeptical onlookers… You have come at a good time to take up the Cross: the Redemption is taking place —now!— and Jesus needs many Simons of Cyrene. (The Way of the Cross, Fifth Station, 2)

To bring happiness to its loved one, a noble heart will not hesitate before sacrifice. To bring comfort to a suffering face, a great soul will overcome all repugnance and give itself unstintingly…And God, does he deserve less than a piece of flesh, than a handful of clay? Learn to mortify your whims. Accept setbacks without exaggerating them, without throwing up your arms, without… hysterics. In that way you will lighten the Cross for Jesus. (The Way of the Cross, Fifth Station, 3)

How can I really love the Holy Cross of Jesus?… Long for it!… Ask Our Lord for the strength to implant it in every heart throughout the length and breadth of this world. And then… make atonement with joy; and try also to love him with the beating of all those hearts that as yet do not love him. (The Way of the Cross, Fifth Station, 5)

, ,

Palm Sunday by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2012/03/31 at 9:11 AM

• “Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

• My dear friends in Christ, in listening to the Gospel story of our Lord’s Passion and death, we have heard the most important story told in the history of man, for we have just heard the story of our redemption – and the price our Lord paid for it.

• And we read it today on Palm Sunday as a preparation for Holy Week, which we now enter, and during which we will see the mysteries of our faith writ large upon the canvas of our liturgies.

• Today we witnessed Jesus enter triumphantly into Jerusalem amidst a chorus of hosannas and the waving of palms. Today we see Him heralded as a king, but we also call to mind today all that Jesus will suffer for us.

• Jesus is our King, but He is a king who suffers for His people.

• While we herald Him today, over the course of this week, we will see the conspiracy that leads to our Lord’s betrayal.

• On Thursday evening we will sit with Jesus and His apostles at His last supper, at which He will institute the holy priesthood and give us the incomparable gift of the Eucharist.

• We will follow Him to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with Him as He suffers His most bitter agony.

• Through our liturgies we will watch as our Lord is arrested, imprisoned, unjustly judged and condemned. He will be mercilessly scourged and crowned with thorns amidst bitter mockery. Every imaginable ignominy will be heaped upon Him.

• Our Lord will be stripped of every human comfort, even His clothing, and ultimately Jesus will suffer the humiliation of crucifixion like a common criminal, hanging upon the cross for three agonizing hours until He can breathe no more and expires.

• And all this He does for our sake. All this He does so that we might be freed from our sins and made worthy to take the places with Him in Heaven that God the Father has prepared for us as His sons and daughters.

• In our second reading we hear St. Paul write to the Philippians that Jesus “emptied Himself.” Jesus literally poured forth His blood, His very self, out of His deep love for us. And we are called to have this same type of love for one another. His is a love that is completely selfgiving – as should be our love.

• My dear friends in Christ, as we once again enter into this most holy of weeks, let us bend our knees and confess with our tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord.

• And as we do so, let us pray for the grace to empty ourselves of all that is not of Christ so that we may love as Jesus loves.

• Let us take the time to meditate deeply on all the mysteries of our faith that are about to unfold for us this week, and let us pray that we may be able to give ourselves completely to Jesus, just as He gave Himself to us.

• And lastly, let us pray for the strength and courage to endure whatever suffering we must for the sake of our own salvation and for the salvation of others. Have a blessed Holy Week.

Copyright 2009 by Reverend Timothy S. Reid

Reverend Reid is pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic  Church in Charlotte, NC

, ,

“Jesus came to reveal the love of God to us”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/04/30 at 8:23 AM
Christ ascended the Cross with his arms wide open, with the all embracing gesture of the Eternal Priest. Now he counts on us – who are nothing! – to bring the fruits of his Redemption to all men. (The Forge, 4)

Let’s apply this lesson to everyday life, to our own life. For the ordinary life of a man among his fellows is not something dull and uninteresting. It is there that the Lord wants the vast majority of his children to achieve sanctity.

It is important to keep reminding ourselves that Jesus did not address himself to a privileged set of people; he came to reveal the universal love of God to us. God loves all men, and he wants all to love him — everyone, whatever his personal situation, his social position, his work. Ordinary life is something of great value. All the ways of the earth can be an opportunity to meet Christ, who calls us to identify ourselves with him and carry out his divine mission — right where he finds us.

God calls us through what happens during our day: through the suffering and happiness of the people we live with, through the human interests of our colleagues and the things that make up our family life. He also calls us through the great problems, conflicts and challenges of each period of history, which attract the effort and idealism of a large part of mankind. (Christ is passing by, 110)

, ,

O, Divine Redeemer

In 07 Observations on 2011/04/27 at 12:25 PM

Not only has He ransomed us from sin and death, but He has taught us to put the will of God above all personal plans, to live detached from everything, to know how to pardon, even when the offender has not repented, to know how to forgive others, to be apostles until the very moment of death.  (F. Fernandez IN CONVERSATION WITH GOD. II, 46.1)