YOU DID NOT KNOW CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, BUT YOU CAN RECOGNIZE HIM TODAY IN THE POWER OF HIS SPIRIT. YOU CAN HEAR, SEE, CONTEMPLATE AND TOUCH HIM IN FAITH. MEETING HIM, YOU WILL SHARE THE JOY AND PEACE OF EASTER. YOU FEEL THAT LIVING WITHOUT HIM WOULD NOT BE LIVING, BUT WITH HIM EVERYTHING BECOMES LOVE. ONE WITH THE WHOLE OF CREATION, YOU SUFFER WITH CHRIST, SO AS TO BE GLORIFIED WITH HIM. THE AGONY AND THE CROSS ARE NOT EVENTS WHICH ARE FINISHED, CUT OUT IN STONE. PASCAL SAID: Jesus is in agony until the end of the world. He must not be left alone. CHRIST INDEED DOES RELIVE HIS GLORIOUS PASSION IN ALL MANKIND. AS LONG AS ANYONE SUFFERS, WHEREVER IT MIGHT BE, THE AGONY OF JESUS BRINGS HIS CROSS TO LIFE AGAIN AND FULFILS HIS REDEMPTION. YOU ARE NOT ALONE WHEN YOU GO WITH JESUS TO GETHSEMANE AND CALVARY; YOU ARE ONE WITH THE UNIVERSE AND YOUR BROTHERS. YOUR SUFFERING IS NOT FELT AS PRIMARILY AS INDIVIDUAL SUFFERING, BUT AS SHARING IN A VAST SUFFERING, VAST AS SPACE AND TIME. IT IS THAT OF ALL MANKIND, AND EVEN MORE IT IS THAT OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE, CONSCIOUS OR UNCONSCIOUS. THE WHOLE OF CREATION GROANS FOR IT HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO SIN AND PRIDE. AS KAFKA SAID: There is something broken in the world. IF YOU DO NOT LIVE AS IRRESPONSIBLE, OR A TRIFLER, IF YOU ARE REALLY IN THE WORLD WITH LOVE, YOU CANNOT REMAIN DISTANT FROM SUFFERING HUMANITY. EVERYWHERE THERE ARISES A MYSTERIOUS CRY, THAT THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SHOULD BE, THAT SUFFERING IS MORE BITTER BECAUSE WE ARE AWARE OF MANS DISSATISFACTION WITH HIS STATE. YOUR FAITH DOES NOT MAKE YOU INVULNERABLE, UNFEELING - ON THE CONTRARY: Creation groans SAYS ST. PAUL, and not only creation but all of us groan inwardly (RM 8:22). CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IMPLIES AN ELEMENT OF PAIN, SHARING THE AGONY OF THE HUMAN CONDITION, AND THIS IS NOT JUST ON THE SURFACE - IT IS IN YOUR VERY SELF. We groan inwardly. ALONG WITH YOUR BROTHERS, YOU QUESTION YOURSELF, YOU STRUGGLE AND OFTEN ENDURE DEATH. IN PRAYER, LET THIS GROAN ARISE, RECALL THOSE FACES AND SITUATIONS WHERE MEN ARE IN AGONY AND DYING. AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD, YOU WILL TRULY FIND THE CROSS OF JESUS. IN PRAYER, YOU BEG THE CHRIST IN AGONY TO TAKE UPON THIS VAST SUFFERING. WITH HIM, YOU OFFER TO THE FATHER AND CELEBRATE THE TRUE EUCHARIST, AND SO YOU CONCELEBRATE IN THE AGONY AND IN CALVARY. BUT KNOW TOO THAT IN SUFFERING WITH CHRIST, YOU ARE GLORIFIED WITH HIM. YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE IS AN EXPERIENCE OF SUFFERING AND GLORY, A PASSOVER EXPERIENCE SINCE YOU ARE A JOINT HEIR WITH CHRIST. PAUL SAID: There is no comparison between suffering and glory (RM 8:18). YOU HAVE THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE THAT THE SUFFERING OF THE PRESENT TIME ARE NOTHING COMPARED WITH THE FUTURE GLORY. THEY ARE NOT TWO SEPARATE REALITIES TO BE PUT ON THE SAME LEVEL. THERE IS NO PROPORTION, NO COMPARISON. THE RELATIONSHIP IS MORE INWARD, MORE VITAL SINCE IT IS AT THE CORE OF DEATH THAT LIFE IS BORN. DO NOT SAY THAT THE GROANING OF WHICH PAUL SPOKE IS JOYFUL, THAT WOULD BE A CONTRADICTION. SAY, RATHER, IT IS GLORIFYING, THAT iT IS ALREADY RAISED UP BY THE VICTORY FOR WHICH IT IS PREPARING. FOR THERE IS IN REALITY GROANING AND GROANING, SUFFERING AND SUFFERING. THERE IS THE GROAN OF MAN CRUSHED, OVERWHELMED, BEATEN, THE GROAN OF AGONY. THEN THERE IS THE GROANING, STILL PAINFUL, BUT HERALDING LIFE, THE GROAN OF A WOMAN GIVING BIRTH TO A CHILD. YOU KNOW THAT YOUR SUFFERING, UNITED TO THE SUFFERING OF THE WORLD, IS NOT THAT OF AGONY, BUT OF BIRTH, AS SAID PAUL CLAUDEL. YOU KNOW THAT YOUR OWN SUFFERING, YOUR OWN GROAN, IS A SIGN OF LIFE RISING, LIFE COMING. YOU ARE A SON OF GOD BY FAITH AND BAPTISM, SON OF GOD BY THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT REALLY PRESENT, BUT IN A WAY WHICH IS IN THE EARLIEST STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT. EACH DAY YOU GIVE BIRTH TO YOURSELF AS A SON OF GOD. YOUR VERY BODY, YOUR VITAL POWERS, WHICH BIND YOU TO HUMANITY AND THE UNIVERSE, MUST SHARE IN THIS QUALITY OF BEING A SON: What we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed (JN 3:2). THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAS YET TO TAKE OVER YOUR WHOLE PERSON AND THE WHOLE WORLD. TOTAL SALVATION IN ITS FULNESS IS YET TO COME. YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS NEW MAN TO WHOM YOU GIVE BIRTH EACH DAY. YOUR GROAN IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF CHRIST IN HIS AGONY AND ON THE CROSS, GIVING UP HIS BODY TO SUFFERING AND PAIN, BUT A DIGNIFYING SUFFERING WHICH CARRIES IT IN THE SEED OF THE VICTORY OF THE RESURRECTION. AT THE HEART OF YOUR FAITH AND YOUR PRAYER IS THE EXPERIENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST, SHARING WITH YOU HIS LIFE AND HIS JOY. YOU DID NOT KNOW CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, BUT YOU CAN RECOGNIZE HIM TODAY IN THE POWER OF HIS SPIRIT. AS JOHN SAYS IN THE BEGINNING OF HIS FIRST EPISTLE, YOU CAN HEAR, SEE, CONTEMPLATE AND TOUCH HIM IN FAITH. MEETING HIM, YOU WILL SHARE THE JOY AND PEACE OF EASTER. IN GREAT INTERIOR SILENCE, ALL TAKEN UP BY THE INDWELLING SPIRIT WHO LETS YOU EXPERIENCE THE PRESENCE OF THE GLORIFIED CHRIST, REREAD THE ACCOUNTS OF THE RESURRECTION. YOUR FAITH AS A BELIEVER RESTS ON THE WITNESS OF THE APOSTLES, HANDED ON TODAY BY THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH. FIRST, BE CONVINCED OF THE ACTUAL PRESENCE OF THE RISEN ONE, THE GLORY OF GOD HAS PIERCED HIS BEING, HE CAN DIE NO MORE. BEFORE HIS DEATH, THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST WAS LIMITED BY THE DENSITY OF HIS FLESH, FROM NOW ON HE SHOWS HIMSELF BY A BODY THAT PAUL CALLS SPIRITUAL. THE RISEN CHRIST BECOMES, AS FATHER XAVIER LEON-DUFOUR CALLS IT, A PURE HYPHEN. IT IS WHY HE CAN SHOW HIMSELF AT THE SAME TIME IN PLACES DISTANT FROM EACH OTHER, SO THAT HIS DISCIPLES CAN UNDERSTAND THAT HE HAD ABOLISHED THE BOUNDARIES OF SPACE AND TIME. THE RISEN CHRIST IS PRESENT TO ALL MEN OF ALL TIMES. YOU CAN THUS ESTABLISH A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. YOU KNOW YOURSELF AND YOU FEEL YOURSELF RELATING TO THE RISEN CHRIST AS SOMEONE OTHER THAN YOURSELF, ON WHOM YOU DEPEND COMPLETELY; YOU FEEL THAT LIVING WITHOUT HIM WOULD NOT BE LIVING, BUT WITH HIM EVERYTHING BECOMES LOVE. THE RISEN CHRIST LOOKS UPON YOU AND THOSE AROUND YOU WHOM YOU LOVE. SO HE HAS A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ALL MEN. IF YOU LEAVE OUT THIS UNIVERSAL PRESENCE OF JESUS YOU MAIM HIM. NOW THIS UNIVERSAL PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST ALSO MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO UNITE WITH OTHERS FROM WITHIN THEMSELVES; TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR WORDS ARE UNABLE TO SAY. YOU CAN ACT ON THEM AND LOVE THEM WITH ALL YOUR HEARTS LOVE, WHEREAS IN PERSONAL CONTACTS YOUR BODYS LIMITATIONS PREVENT REAL COMMUNION. CHRIST BINDS US TOGETHER, TELLHARD DE CHARDIN SAYS, AND SHOWS US TO EACH OTHER. IN HIM YOU FIND EVERY MAN AND EVERYTHING, IN ORDER TO IMPART THE BEST OF YOURSELF TO THEM. ALL CREATION, ENLIGHTENED BY THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN ONE, RESUMES ITS MOVEMENT TOWARDS THE FATHER AND BECOMES A SIGN OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. BUT YOU CAN ONLY MAKE THIS DISCOVERY INSOFAR AS YOUR VISION IS ENLIGHTENED BY FAITH. IN EVERY APPEARANCE OF THE RISEN ONE, HE WAS AT FIRST DISBELIEVED. THE APOSTLES SAW JESUS AND DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM. IT WAS AS IF A FLESHLY VEIL PREVENTED THEM FROM SEEING HIM. THIS IS WHAT HAD HAPPENED WITH THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS - CHRIST WAS NOT CHANGED, BUT HE WAS UNRECOGNIZABLE. BECAUSE OF GOOD FRIDAY, THE APOSTLES WERE UNABLE TO BELIEVE THAT CHRIST WAS PRESENT. SO JESUS TOOK THE FIRST STEP IN MEETING THEM. HE DID NOT COME, HE LET HIMSELF BE SEEN. HE APPEARED AND STOOD SUDDENLY IN THE MIDST OF THEM (this is the language of the theophanies). EACH TIME, HE GRAPPLED WITH THE REASON FOR THE DISCIPLES DISBELIEF - THE SHAME OF THE CROSS. PETER HAD ALREADY REFUSED A SUFFERING MESSIAH AFTER HIS PROFESSION OF FAITH AT CAESAREA. THE DISCIPLES FOUND THAT KNOWING THE RISEN ONE WAS NOT THE SAME AS THE EARTHLY KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS. HE WAS NOT A GHOST, HE WAS TRULY JESUS, BUT HE WAS OTHER. HE HAD A SPIRITUAL BODY PRESERVED FROM THE NORMAL CONDITIONS OF LIFE ON EARTH. TO KNOW HIM, ONE HAD TO COMMIT ONESELF AND DECIDE FOR HIM, THAT IS TO BELIEVE IN HIM. IT IS THE SAME IN PRAYER, YOU WILL KNOW THE RISEN CHRIST WHEN YOU WELCOME HIS PRESENCE, COMMITTING YOURSELF TO HIM IN FREE DIALOGUE. TO RECOGNIZE HIM, YOU MUST MAKE A STEP TOWARDS HIM. AT THE SAME TIME THAT YOU LOVINGLY PUT YOUR TRUST IN HIM, HE WILL DISCLOSE HIMSELF TO YOU: Come to me with your heart SAYS AN ARABIAN PROVERB and I will give you my eyes. THE RISEN ONE CAN ONLY BE KNOWN BY BELIEVERS. THE RISEN ONE DOES NOT GIVE HIMSELF TO YOU AS A SPECTACLE. HE PUSHES YOU TOWARDS OTHERS IN THE FUTURE. FROM NOW ON, YOU MUST PROCLAIM THAT CHRIST IS PRESENT AND ALIVE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD AND IN EVERY HAPPENING. THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN ONE IS NOT STATIC BUT DYNAMIC AND EVANGELICAL. YOU ARE SENT TO ALL YOUR BROTHERS TO TELL THE GOOD NEWS. DO NOT FORGET THAT MATTHEW WAS CHOSEN TO BE AN APOSTLE BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN WITH JESUS FROM HIS BAPTISM TO THE RESURRECTION. UNLESS YOU HAVE KNOWN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE RESURRECTION IN PRAYER AND YOUR DAILY LIFE, YOU MAY PREACH A TRUTH AND AN ETHIC, BUT YOU WILL NOT PROCLAIM THE MYSTERY OF A LIVING PERSON WHICH, IN THE END, WHAT YOUR BROTHERS EXPECT. youtube/playlist?list=PLl6BeUzXcF-mAlHkcEHai7cX9jkjTzHw0
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 16:45:50 +0000
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