Five Catholic Things that Caught My Eye Today (Easter Wednesday, 2015)

1. Do yourself a favor and read this:

Yet, now in his glorified body, Jesus remained in the same little district, he hid his splendor, he kept the wounds of his Passion, he walked and talked and ate with men. He seemed as intent on persuading them to realize that he was human as he had been before on proving that he was divine, and instead of appearing in dazzling light all over the world, he sent other people to carry the news of his Resurrection, people who were still afraid, who still had the stains of their tears on their faces, who were still broken by the grief and horror of Calvary.

He came out of the tomb and walked in the garden and on the road to Jerusalem, as if he was eager to lay hold of the substantial earth with the same blameless feet of the substantial earth with the same blameless feet that had so lately been lifted from it and fastened down by the cold, heavy iron to the cross. He had loved the earth before, had loved its mysteries of the seed and harvest; and he loved it still. The love he had come to give was love like the seed in the earth. Love that must go down again into the darkness, be buried again and again in the heart of man, to live again and again in the resurrection of the innumerable springs. Christ who had died and risen from the dead would not approach those whom he loved from outside; he would not only be voice in their ears, he would be the silence in their souls. He would be the life that quickens in darkness and flowers in countless millions of forms of beauty. He would overcome fear and sin and sorrow and death in the heart of everyone who would love him until the end of time.

That’s from Caryll Houselander, via Magnificat today. (Do yourself a favor and subscribe if you don’t already.)

2.

It is in the Eucharistic Mystery that the Resurrection of the Lord reaches a startling fulfillment.

— FrSteveGrunow (@FrSteveGrunow) April 8, 2015

3. From an ancient Easter homily (in today’s Liturgy of the Hours):

Saint Paul rejoices in the knowledge that spiritual health has been restored to the human race. Death entered the world through Adam, he explains, but life has been given back to the world through Christ. Again he says: The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven and is heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthly man, the image of human nature grown old in sin, so let us bear the image of the heavenly man: human nature raised up, redeemed, restored and purified in Christ. We must hold fast to the salvation we have received. Christ was the firstfruits, says the Apostle; he is the source of resurrection and life. Those who belong to Christ will follow him. Modeling their lives on his purity, they will be secure in the hope of his resurrection and of enjoying with him the glory promised in heaven. Our Lord himself said so in the gospel: Whoever follows me will not perish, but will pass from death to life.

Thus the passion of our Savior is the salvation of mankind. The reason why he desired to die for us was that he wanted us who believe in him to live for ever. In the fullness of time it was his will to become what we are, so that we might inherit the eternity he promised and live with him for ever.

Here, then, is the grace conferred by these heavenly mysteries, the gift which Easter brings, the most longed for feast of the year; here are the beginnings of creatures newly formed: children born from the life-giving font of holy Church, born anew with the simplicity of little ones, and crying out with the evidence of a clean conscience. Chaste fathers and inviolate mothers accompany this new family, countless in number, born to new life through faith. As they emerge from the grace-giving womb of the font, a blaze of candles burns brightly beneath the tree of faith. The Easter festival brings the grace of holiness from heaven to men. Through the repeated celebration of the sacred mysteries they receive the spiritual nourishment of the sacraments. Fostered at the very heart of holy Church, the fellowship of one community worships the one God, adoring the triple name of his essential holiness, and together with the prophet sings the psalm which belongs to this yearly festival: This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. And what is this day? It is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the author of light, who brings the sunrise and the beginning of life, saying of himself: I am the light of day; whoever walks in daylight does not stumble. That is to say, whoever follows Christ in all things will come by this path to the throne of eternal light.

Such was the prayer Christ made to the Father while he was still on earth: Father, I desire that where I am they also may be, those who have come to believe in me; and that as you are in me and I in you, so they may abide in us.

4. Pope Francis was all about Christ and children in his Wednesday audience today:

The Church offers her maternal care to all children and their families, and she brings them the blessing of Jesus. May we always care for our children, not counting the cost, so that they may never believe themselves to be mistakes, but always know their infinite worth.

5.

"Stay with us Lord": enamelled image of a paten in the Treasury of Notre Dame de Paris https://t.co/GV91U7Cri8

— Fr Lawrence Lew OP (@LawrenceOP) April 8, 2015