Day 93: The Meaning of the Resurrection (651-658)

• It’s Day 93!!

• Hopefully by this moment you recognize this is not merely transfer of information

• THIS IS TRANSFORMATION!!

• We have been talking about the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

• THIS IS AN HISTORICAL AND TRANSCENDENT EVENT

• All these signs point to the REALITY OF JESUS RISEN FROM THE DEAD

• Yesterday we talked about the condition of His Resurrected Body

• HIS GLORIOUS BODY

• IT WAS TRULY HIS BODY!!

• It still had the nail marks in His hands and feet and the spear wound in His side

• BUT…

• It was a GLORIFIED body in a UNIQUE way

• He was RISEN from the dead

• NOT JUST RESUSCITATED

• BUT…

• It was brought to a NEW STATE OF BEING THAT TRANSCENDS SPACE AND TIME

• INCREDIBLE!!

• We also talked about the fact that the Resurrection is the work of the Holy Trinity

• God the Father raised Jesus from the dead and PERFECTLY unites Christ’s HUMANITY, including His body, to DIVINITY

• Since Jesus is a Divine Being, He affects His own Resurrection by virtue of His own Divine Power

• So it’s the WHOLE TRINITY WORKING TOGETHER

• FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT!!

• Today we are talking about THE MEANING AND SAVING SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESURRECTION

• The Resurrection in and of itself is INCREDIBLE

• BUT…

• What does the Resurrection have to do with us?

• Paragraph 654 says, “The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God’s grace, ‘so that…we too might walk in newness of life.’ Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace.”

• So we are JUSTIFIED

• It doesn't JUST mean that our sins are forgiven

• Yes, that is incredible

• It ALSO means a NEW PARTICIPATION IN GRACE

• WE CAN BE ADOPTED BY THE FATHER!!

• We have this ADOPTION that happens to us in our BAPTISM

• A GIFT OF GRACE!!

• NOT by our nature

• The Son is a Son BY VIRTUE OF HIS NATURE

• WE are sons and daughters BY VIRTUE OF ADOPTION

• BY VIRTUE OF THE GRACE THAT GOD SHARES WITH US

• Because of what?

• THE RESURRECTION!!

• THIS IS JUST AMAZING!!

• Paragraph 655 says, “Finally, Christ’s Resurrection-and the risen Christ himself-is the principle and source of our future resurrection: ‘Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep…’”

• THIS IS HOW WE WILL EXPERIENCE THE SAME GLORY!!

• OUR BODIES WILL BE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD!!

• WE WILL BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THIS GLORIFIED RESURRECTED BODY THAT JESUS EXPERIENCES ALREADY!!

• So let’s say a prayer and ask the Lord not only to illuminate our minds but to pierce our hearts with great love and affection and the desire to serve the Risen One, to belong to the Risen One, to love the Risen One with everything we have…

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we praise you and thank you. We give you glory today. We ask that you please receive our praise and thanks. Thank you so much for being love, for sending your Son to be one of us, to suffer and die for us for our forgiveness of sins, but also in rising from the dead and conquering death, to manifest the Resurrection. You love us so much that you continue to give us your Holy Spirit of forgiveness, your Holy Spirit of redemption, your Holy Spirit that unites us to you and allows us to call you Father. Let that Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwell in us. Help us to anticipate the glorified resurrected bodies that you desire us to experience for all eternity. And help us to say yes to you this day. Help us to say yes to your Passion. Help us to say yes to your Resurrection. Help us to participate in your suffering and cross. And help us to participate in your Glory and Resurrection. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• GOSH!!

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph 651 says, “‘If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.’ The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ’s works and teachings.”

• If Jesus has not been raised from the dead then what are we believing in?

• We believe in someone who had some nice things to say

• Some challenging things to say

• BUT…

• Someone who died just like any other human being

• And that’s the end of the story

• BUT…

• If the Resurrection is TRUE…

• AND IT IS TRUE…

• AN HISTORICAL REALITY!!

• AN HISTORICAL FACT!!

• Then above all, the Resurrection points to the confirmation of all Christ’s works and teachings

• Paragraph 651 continues, “All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reason, find their justification if CHrist by his Resurrection has given the definitive proof of his divine authority, which he had promised.”

• If Jesus REALLY IS who he SAYS HE IS

• THEN EVERYTHING HE SAYS IS TRUE!!

• WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO EVERYTHING HE SAYS!!

• The Resurrection demonstrates Christ’s Divinity

• SO IMPORTANT!!

• Paragraph 653 says, “The truth of Jesus’ divinity is confirmed by his Resurrection.”

• Paragraph 654 says, “The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God’s grace…[that grace] brings about filial adoption…”

• FILIAL ADOPTION is a technical term that means we are ADOPTED AS SONS AND DAUGHTERS of God the Father

• The grace that Jesus won for us by dying and rising from the dead

• FORGIVENESS 

• THE ABILITY TO BE ADOPTED AS GOD’S SONS AND DAUGHTERS

• They come to us BECAUSE of the Paschal mystery

• Because of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, we are now CAPABLE OF BEING ADOPTED

• CAPABLE OF NOT ONLY HAVING GOD AS OUR FATHER…

• BUT CAPABLE OF HAVING JESUS AS OUR BROTHER!!

• God is our FATHER

• Because of Baptism we have been ADOPTED BY GOD as His sons and daughters

• Jesus is the SON OF GOD by nature

• We are SONS AND DAUGHTERS of God by adoption and by grace

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• St Theresa of Avila said, “One could pray the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer and that could be the content of their prayer for maybe the rest of their life.”

• OUR FATHER!!

• We will get more and more deeply into that later

• We can TRULY say that God the Son is OUR BROTHER

• WE DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT!!

• BUT…

• IT IS A GIFT OF GRACE!!

• AMAZING!!

• INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph 655 says, “Finally, Christ’s Resurrection-and the risen Christ himself-is the principle and source of our future resurrection: ‘Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep…For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.’”

• We know that Christ lives in our hearts

• BUT…

• In a unique way in the future Christ will restore our mortal bodies to be like His GLORIFIED BODY

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• We will talk more about this when we talk about THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

• What will your body be like in THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY?

• Christ’s Resurrected Body is the FORESHADOWING of what we are called to experience

• Right now, we experience the gift of HIS GRACE

• Right now, we experience the gift of being HIS BRETHREN

• Right now, we experience the gift of being the Father’s ADOPTED SONS AND DAUGHTERS

• WE GLORIFY GOD!!

• THANK GOD TODAY!!

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• Tomorrow we will talk about HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY

• Sometimes we blow past that and think, “Yeah yeah He left.”

• THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS MEANS!!

• IT IS SO MUCH DEEPER!!

• OH MAN!!

• We are going to dive into that and it is going to be AMAZING!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!