The Resurrection Of Jesus
(On the Road to Emmaus)
Walk with me Lord in my despair, when I am troubled and through my agony
just as you promised you would - 'till the end of time'.
When my time has come meet me at the door when you open it to me.
When I see your smile may my face reflect it
and bid me dwell for ever in paradise with you and those I love,
those who love you, and those who have loved your children.
Reflections for Lent and Easter
Life and Light – Death and Blindness {From reading John 8-12}
We ponder the life, death and resurrection of Jesus throughout Lent and Easter but according to John,
Jesus was wholly concerned with us – True life and death are explained to us.
As John reports, life means living in the light of God as proclaimed by Jesus,
death on the other hand is living in blindness to the light.
Those who love their earthly lives (from John 12) and exploit people and the world to their own advantage
ignore the existence of God our Father and the message of Christ his Son
– their lives are lost, says Jesus – they are dead in their sins (from John 8).
They risk external separation from God.
On the other hand those who hate that sort of earthly life and follow His teachings
which come from the Father will have eternal life with God.
Their earthly lives end but they do not die the death of separation.
So it follows the true dead are with us now,
they are blind and refuse to change – or see the light.
Those who follow Him inherit the light and will never suffer that death.
Also Christ died an earthly death but was glorified as he said he would be
– the light still shines and will never be extinguished
- the resurrection was proof of this to his disciples and forms the cornerstone of our own faith.
When Jesus cured the blind man who was subsequently expelled by the authorities
he sought him out again to cure his real blindness. Jesus asked him,
‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’
‘Sir,’ the man said ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.
’Jesus said ‘You are looking at him, he is speaking to you.’
The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’ and worshipped him (John 9).
This is the cure or light of life that Jesus wants us to seek.
So it also follows that our departed loved ones, spouses, children, born and unborn babies
are not dead but live on in the light of God with us now just as they did on this earth.
We suffer earthly separation and sorrow but should never be afraid to talk to each other of them or to them.
We need to talk about our deceased loved ones as much as we do about those who are still living
in order to outlive our grief.
Perhaps then we can fully understand ‘Life and Light - Death and Blindness.’
Pope Paul VI. 6th January 1964
in the Holy Land at The Church of the Nativity
We should like, from this blessed spot
and at this very special time,
to address some words to the world.
By world We wish to signify all those who
observe Christianity as from the outside,
that is, all those who are or who feel like strangers
with respect to Christianity.
We would like, above all else,
to present ourselves once more to this world
in the midst of which we find ourselves.
We are the representatives and promoters
of the Christian religion. We are the disciples,
the apostles, and missionaries of Jesus,
the Son of God and of Mary - the Messiah, the Christ.
We are the carriers of his mission,
the heirs and heralds of his message,
which we know to possess the divine guarantees of Truth.
We have no other interest than to proclaim our faith.
We ask for nothing but the freedom
to profess our beliefs and to suggest to anyone
who would like to welcome it with complete freedom
- this religion, this new link established
between humanity and God
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We ask the world to consider faithfully
that we wish to work for the good of the world,
for its interest for its salvation.
Thus: We look at the world with immense sympathy,
and if this world considers itself a stranger to Christianity,
Christianity does not feel strange to the world.
The mission of Christianity is a mission of friendship
among peoples of the earth ;
a mission of understanding, encouragement,
promotion, elevation and let us say once again,
a mission of salvation.
May it be known somewhere in the world how Christ,
who is still living today in his Church,
shows himself to the world beginning with this place,
this crib that marks his appearance on earth.
May the world that surrounds us be pleased to accept today,
in the name of Jesus Christ,
our respectful and affectionate greeting.
Catholic Radio On 8th October a new Catholic radio station was launched via the internet.
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