Death, Decisions, and a Working Lunch

About two thousand years ago, three women were on their way to deal with a hastily-buried corpse. They were in for a big surprise:

"On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed.

"He said to them, 'Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.

"But go and tell his disciples and Peter, "He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you." ' "
(Mark 16:5-7)

The women eventually passed along the message, my Lord had a series of meetings with his disciples, gave them orders that haven't been rescinded, and we've been on stand-by alert ever since.

A Working Lunch

It seems to me that my Lord went out of his way to show that he was really, literally, physically, alive, after leaving that tomb:

"While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, 'Have you anything here to eat?'

"They gave him a piece of baked fish;

"he took it and ate it in front of them."
(Luke 24:41-43)

---

"Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, 'Peace be with you.'

"Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.' "
(John 20:26-27)

I've been over that before (March 11, 2012)

Decisions

The idea that someone could stop being dead is so unlikely, that folks have occasionally decided they'd rather believe something else. Jesus never having been alive to begin with is a perennial favorite.

So is the notion that professional soldiers didn't know death when they saw it - and that Jesus simply fainted on the cross. And then pushed a good-sized hunk of rock out of the way: with a punctured chest and perforated limbs.

Maybe, but that doesn't explain why eleven men decided to face death, rather than say that they'd just been kidding about my Lord. Applying Occam's razor, I finally admitted that what the Catholic Church has been saying for the last couple millennia is true: and became a Catholic. And that's another topic.

"This is Our Faith"

This renewal of baptismal vows is a Holy Saturday tradition. I like it, in part because it's an excellent set of reminders, and a reality check:

• Do you reject Satan?
  • I do.
• And all his works?
  • I do.
• And all his empty promises?
  • I do.
• Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
  • I do.
• Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
  • I do.
• Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
  • I do.
• This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • Amen.
  (source: "Pastoral Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Sydney on the Occasion of the XXIII World Youth Day," p. 139)

Related posts:

• "Being Catholic: By Choice"
  (March 18, 2012)
• "The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead"
  (March 11, 2012)
• " 'Blessed are You Who Believed' "
  (December 21, 2011)
• "Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2011: John, Jesus, and God's New World Order"
  (December 18, 2011)
• "A Prayer for Clouded Hearts"
  (December 4, 2011)

Backgroud:

• "Pastoral Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Sydney on the Occasion of the XXIII World Youth Day"
  Liturgical Celebrations of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
  (July 15-21, 2008)
  (from www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2008/messale_Australia.pdf (March 7, 2012))