Into the Deep

 

I Make All Things New
Arise!
   “The resurrection of Jesus, as it is understood in the Christian tradition, simply did not happen. There was no physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection is a myth, and it was created as part of the earliest Christian theological development.” This is a quote from the book Resurrection: Myth or Reality? (p. 84) by theologian and author Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong. Bishop Spong joins a long tradition of people who have denied or reinterpreted the fact of Christ’s resurrection. The list goes back even to the gospels, when the chief priests and the elders decided to bribe the soldiers who were guarding Jesus’ tomb in order to say “His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep” (Matthew 23:18). It even adds that “this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.” (v. 15). When Saint Paul in the year 51 announced to the Athenians that God “provided confirmation for all by raising him [Christ] from the dead” (Acts 17:31) he was met with unbelief and a cold response: “We should like to hear you on this some other time.” (v. 32).
   However, the Church has defended from the very beginning the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it has done so based on two facts of great transcendence. The first is the testimony of the witnesses who not only saw the risen Lord, but even, as Peter says, “ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” (Acts 10:41) And it is not a matter of few people: “he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once […] After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.” (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). And most of these people offered their lives as martyrs defending the authenticity of the resurrection.
   The second fact is the new life his resurrection has brought to those who believe in him and, through baptism, die to the old life and rise to a life in the Spirit: “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4). Our Patron Saint, St. Leo, in a beautiful sermon about the resurrection (#71) encourages his listeners with these words: “we must strive to be found partakers also of Christ’s Resurrection, and pass “from death unto life” (1 John 3:14), while we are in this body.” What does this mean for our lives? “We must die, therefore, to the devil and live to God: we must perish to iniquity that we may rise to righteousness. Let the old sink, that the new may rise”, St. Leo answers.
   The celebration of Easter reminds us, therefore, that within us there is a principle of new life that constantly moves us with this call, “Arise!”. An ancient Christian hymn, taken up by St. Paul, invites us to: “Awake, O sleeper/and arise from the dead/and Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5:14). These words offer the Apostle the opportunity to warn his readers (and all of us through them): “Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.” (vv. 15-16).
   The true Christian has another mentality, another order of priorities, another heart, other hopes and joys, another way of conceiving time, another relationship with wealth, work, relationships, another way of accepting difficulties, even another vision of one’s own body totally different from what the world is looking for. St. Paul again: “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.” (Colossians 3:1-2).
   Unfortunately, many Catholics forget this life-changing grace from the Lord, forget the Apostle’s warning: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) Their fervor grows cold, and to them the Lord has these words: “I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4). One sign of this cooling of love can be a lack of appreciation for Sunday Mass during the year. Each Sunday is the Easter of the week, the Lord is resurrected in our hearts through the Eucharist and our lives take on new strength for the week. Don’t let that happen to you, and if it has happened, love can be resurrected.
   “Let not the things, which have been made new, return to their ancient instability; and let not him who has ‘put his hand to the plough’ forsake his work” (Saint Leo)
   Happy Easter!
Fr. Javier Nieva, DCJM

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Previous Letters:

April 13, 2025: I Make All Things New – To Do My Penance
April 6, 2025: I Make All Things New – I Declared My Sin to You
March 30, 2025: I Make All Things New – I Firmly Resolve
March 23 2025: I Make All Things New –  I am Sorry for Offending You
March 16, 2025: I Make All Things New –  Examining Your Conscience
March 9, 2025: I Make All Things New
March 2, 2025: Pruning
February 23, 2025: The Anointed of the Lord
February 16, 2025: Be My Valentine
February 9, 2025: Wash Away My Guilt II
February 2, 2025: Wash Away My Guilt I
January 26, 2025: Catholic Education
January 19, 2025: Shall Marry You
January 12, 2025: Called by Name
January 5, 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
December 29, 2024: Priests for the Family
December 22, 2024: Messengers of Joy
December 15, 2024: Blessed Are the Poor
December 8, 2024: Love, Hope and Joy
December 1, 2024: Hope Does Not Disappoint
November 24, 2024: Are You King?
November 17, 2024: Seven Words
November 10, 2024: Tu es Petrus
November 3, 2024: Pray For Those Authority
October 27, 2024: These Are the Feasts
October 20, 2024: Someone Else
October 13, 2024: Be Prudent
October 6, 2024: Project and Dreams II
September 29, 2024: Projects and Dreams I
September 22, 2024: Pastor
September 15, 2024: Take Up Your Cross
September 8, 2024: Guardians of Shared Memory
September 1, 2024: From Their Hearts
August 25, 2024: The Cost of Discipleship
August 18, 2024: For Real?
August 11, 2024: Too Long For You
August 4, 2024: A New Manna
July 28, 2024: Bread of Life
July 21, 2024: Shepherds After My Own Heart
July 14, 2024: Woe to Me…
July 7, 2024: Come and Rest (II)
June 30, 2024: Come and Rest (I)
June 23, 2024: Storms
June 16, 2024: I Will be a Father to You
June 9, 2024: Burning Furnace of Love
June 2, 2024: In the Midst of Him
May 26, 2024: Forever I Will Sing the Goodness of the Lord
May 19, 2024: Through the Holy Spirit
May 12, 2024: The Ark of the Covenant
May 5, 2024: Source and Summit
April 28, 2024: Rejoice Always
April 21, 2024: I Believe in the resurrection of the body Part II
April 14, 2024: I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body Part 1
April 7, 2024: Rich in Mercy
March 31, 2024: Sine Dominico Non Possumus About Sunday
February 11, 2024: I Was Ill and You Cared For Me
February 4, 2024: Why Evil?
January 28, 2024: Catholic Schools Week
January 21, 2024: Attachments
January 14, 2024: The LORD Shines
January 7, 2024: Epiphany 2024
December 31, 2023: A Family of Families
December 25, 2023: New Beginnings
December 17, 2023: Christmas
December 3, 2023: Watch
November 26, 2023: Be Healed
November 19, 2023: Sealed
November 12, 2023: Religious?