Archive for month: April, 2023
It is a historical statement that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate, however, the statement that Jesus rose from the dead is much more complex because it entails a not-so-common experience: Resurrection. The humiliation, tragedy, and scandal of crucifixion were swallowed up in the victory of life over death. The resurrection tells us that in the unfolding of time, God’s love conquers all, even human hatred and malice. Evil cannot overcome good in the unfolding of time.
The resurrection is more than about tomorrow: It is also about today, and how our lives can make a difference for the good because we have been raised to a new life in Christ (Colossians 3:1-4). God not only resurrects and transforms us at the future resurrection, but God also resurrects and transforms us in the present by having Christ formed within us and among us. Resurrection is the transformation of life into a better life for us and those around us. May we live our lives in light of the resurrection with Christ as our “hidden resource” who through the Holy Spirit gives us guidance so that we live as we were destined to live.
Let us pray to God our Father that we rise with the risen Lord: God of all life, help us to believe in life, and see Jesus Christ raised up and alive. Through the Holy Spirit, may we experience him walking with us on the road of life, so that we be a living people rising up from our ways of indifference. Fill us with the joy of the Spirit, so that our faith and love never waver, for Christ is risen and we are alive in him through the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Claretian Communications
Let us pray to God who sent us Jesus to reveal God’s love to us: Lord Jesus, though mocked and derided, you were not put to shame; though beaten and spat upon, you were not disgraced; though innocent and unjustly crucified, you, the Son of God, have been vindicated by your sinless life and exalted to the right hand of power. As we gather to remember your suffering, fill us with your Spirit, conform our thoughts to yours, and teach us your ways so that the world might see in your body, the church, your ongoing ministry of redeeming grace toward this fallen, spent, and weary world. Amen.
Lightning from the East, alt.
