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By The Catholic Spirit
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Monday, 17 November 2008 |
 In this lesson of the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute, Father Peter Laird, vice rector of the St. Paul Seminary, laid out the Paschal Mystery as a whole, showing that Christ’s Passion, death and resurrection, although identifiable as three separate movements, is really a single symphony that expresses the whole truth about the redemption he has won for us: It is Christ’s death that brings the forgiveness of our sins, and his resurrection that makes possible our participation in eternal life.
We live the Paschal Mystery in our lives over and over again by allowing our struggles of the day to be brought to Christ. The beauty here is that our self-emptying allows for a very personal relationship with Christ.
God loves personally, and because he loves personally, his atoning act, the death of his son on the cross, was for each and all of us personally. We live our lives in hope and great anticipation of his return.
While his kingdom has been initiated, it has not been fulfilled, leaving us with hearts that eagerly long for his appearing.
We can’t know the hour when Christ will come again, but neither ought we to be surprised by it when he does.
Jesus will surprise those who live in the darkness of sin but not those who live in the light of grace. So Paul enjoins us to “keep awake and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6). If we do this, then at Christ’s Second Coming we will be able to say, “Oh, it’s you, Lord! I’ve been waiting for you.”
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