Message of 4-6-15

Published: Mon, 04/06/15

A Daily Spiritual Seed
Monday: April 6, 2015
Message of the Day
“Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about.” 
― N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

(Happy Easter! May you be a colonist of the life of heaven this day!)
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Readings of the Day
ACTS 2:14, 22-33;    PS 16:1-2, 5-10, 11;    MT 28:8-15

R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.

I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.

USCCB lectionary
Reflection on the Scripture
"They hurried away from the tomb half-overjoyed, half-fearful." –Matthew 28:8

"Jesus said to them: 'Do not be afraid!' " –Matthew 28:10

When the first followers of Jesus learned that He had risen, some were half-fearful and half-overjoyed (Mt 28:8). This divided reaction still occurs today. When we first encounter the risen Jesus, we rejoice with great joy. Yet we also realize quickly that risen life brings new challenges and new responsibilities, especially in evangelization.

Satan couldn't prevent the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, so now he is reduced to trying to stop us from spreading the good news that Jesus is alive and has conquered sin and death forever. One of the main ways Satan tries to limit the spread of the good news is to tempt Jesus' witnesses to be afraid – afraid of evangelizing, afraid of radical lifestyle changes, afraid of stepping out in faith, afraid of change. If Satan can take hold of at least a part of us, he's well on his way to reducing us from a half-witness to no witness at all. Therefore, Jesus immediately told His first witnesses: "Do not be afraid" (Mt 28:10). Jesus confronted fear by issuing a challenge: he sent His followers out to go and tell the good news (see Mt 28:10).

If we're half-fearful like the women at the tomb, let's turn to the better half, the "half-overjoyed" part (Mt 28:8). "Fix your eyes on Jesus" and the joy of His victorious resurrection (Heb 3:1). May His joy be yours, and may your joy be complete in Him (Jn 15:11).

PRAYER: Jesus, You are risen! You have conquered sin and death! Use me to announce fearlessly the good news of risen life in You.

PROMISE: "This is the Jesus God has raised up, and we are His witnesses." –Acts 2:32​

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Spiritual Reading
NOTES ON THE LIFE OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER
 
2709. Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves." It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself. 
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church, IV, 3, 1)

- part 13 of 24

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, IV
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