Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death...
Easter is a story of sin and grace, of light shining in darkness, of a darkness which could not overcome the light.
We cannot begin to understand the Good News of Jesus Christ without an awareness of our sins. And we are fortunate to live in a world which continually reminds us of our guilt even as we respond with a million ways to deny it.
When Saint Peter stood before the amazed crowd and explained their confusion to them, he spoke of Jesus "whom you crucified:"
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (NIV)
With a group of eager Christians here at Mount Saint Francis I studied the Gospel of Saint Mark during this past Lent and have been impressed once again by the evident failure of his disciples to grasp the Lord's Good News. It seems as difficult to comprehend as the man was difficult to apprehend. He was not arrested -- that is, apprehended -- until the hour had come. Ironically, and according to God's plan, he was arrested by evil men who condemned, tortured, and crucified him; but they did not know they were killing the Lord of Glory. They could not comprehend him.
The proclamation of Easter Joy is an insistent invitation to welcome the Lord of Glory as my personal Lord and Savior, the Redeemer of the Church, and the Lord of all the Earth.
The awareness of our sins is not a neurotic anxiety or an abiding disappointment in oneself, as many people suppose. It is not a continual self-harassment with phony and shaming accusations. That is joyless narcissism, an untruth learned in dysfunctional families.
A daily examen discovers God's inviting grace to know, love, and serve him through our thoughts, words, and deeds; it helps us to recognize opportunities missed and warnings unheeded, and to learn from them. Saint Paul famously spelled out God's patient kindness in I Corinthians 13.
As we leave the Season of Lent behind and enter Easter Joy we might do well to ask what we learned from the purple season, and what delightful awareness we now bring to the Spring of 2023.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.