THE  EMPTY  TOMB

I recall a poem, from childhood, penned by John Masefield. Unfortunately I do not recall the title, but I still remember two lines which have been impressed, engraved in my memory. A dialogue between Calpurnia and a Centurion. The lady asks the soldier: ‘Tell me, soldier, where is Jesus, now ?’. The Centurion answers: ‘I don’t know, lady, all I know is that his tomb is empty.’ ‘That’s bad,’, she replies, ‘now the trouble starts.’

This fact, that the tomb of Jesus was found empty, notwithstanding that Roman guards were ordered to watch over it, through out the night and day, has always preoccupied, and still preoccupies His enemies, to this very day.

How they have wished, and still wish, to lay their hands, physically, on Jesus and destroy Him, once and for all. No, I would not describe this Person as elusive, no comparison to the ‘Scarlet Pimpernell’ created by Baroness Orczy. No, Jesus is still here, He is not elusive. Yes, he is in Heaven, He is in Hell, through His justice, wherever you seek Him; here or there. Jesus is always present with us.

But, one thing, His enemies can’t understand, they can’t grasp, that apart from the Blessed Eucharist, Jesus is here, there and everywhere, through the witnessing of His followers, in the persons of the poor, the suffering, the sick, the people forgotten by society, in those dying of hunger and thirst, in those suffering from all sorts of injustice, all round the world.

To make matters worse, for His enemies, He has promised that He will be around till the end of time. Jesus is no more in the tomb, Jesus is here in the presence of His beloved Bride; the Chuch. All those who have watched that wonderful film called ‘The Scarlet and the Black’, starring Gregory Peck as Mons. O’Flagherty, and Christopher Plummer  as the German commandant in charge of Rome during World war II, surely recall that scene in the Colosseum, Rome, where we find the German Commandant, asking, begging the priest to help his family escape from the Allies.

Again, there is a sentence in this famous dialogue, when the German hurls all kinds of accusations against the Church and Priests, but the last sentence, declaration came from the Monsignor, when he said: “The Church will survive to sing a Requiem on her enemies.”

The reason is,  because the Tomb is empty, and JESUS is alive.

THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  LORD

“Why was the Lord present upon the earth?                                                                                                         In order that having clothed himself with the one who suffers, he might lift him up to the heights of heaven...So indeed also the suffering of the Lord, predicted long in advance by means of types, but seen today, has brought about faith, just because it has taken place as predicted, and yet men have taken it as something completely new. Well, the truth of the matter is the mystery of the Lord is both old and new–old insofar as it involved the type, but new insofar as it concerns grace.

And what is more, if you pay close attention to this type you will see the real thing through its fulfillment. Accordingly, if you desire to see the mystery of the Lord, pay close attention to Abel who likewise was put to death, to Isaac who likewise was bound hand and foot, to Joseph who likewise was sold, to Moses who likewise was exposed, to David who likewise was hunted down, to the Prophets who likewise suffered because they were the Lord's anointed.

Pay close attention also to the one who was sacrificed as a sheep in the land of Egypt, to the one who smote Egypt and who saved Israel by his blood. For it was through the voice of prophecy that the mystery of the Lord was proclaimed. And David said: Why were the nations haughty and the people concerned about nothing? The kings of the earth presented themselves and the princes assembled themselves together against the Lord and against his anointed.

And Jeremiah: ‘I am as an innocent lamb being led away to be sacrificed. They plotted evil against me and said: Come! let us throw him a tree for his food, and let us exterminate him from the land of the living, so that his name will never be recalled.’
 And Isaiah: ‘He was led as a sheep to slaughter, and, as a lamb is silent in the presence of the one who shears it, he did not open his mouth.’

This is the one who smote lawlessness and deprived injustice of its offspring, as Moses deprived Egypt.  
This is the one who delivered us from slavery into freedom, from darkness into light, from death into life, from tyranny into an eternal kingdom, and who made us a new priesthood, and a special people forever.
This one is the passover of our salvation. This is the one who patiently endured many things in many people.
  
This is the one who was murdered in Abel, and bound as a sacrifice in Isaac, and exiled in Jacob, and sold in Joseph, and exposed in Moses, and sacrificed in the lamb, and hunted down in David, and dishonored in the prophets.
This is the one who became human in a virgin, who was hanged on the tree, who was buried in the earth, who was resurrected from among the dead, and who raised mankind up out of the grave below to the heights of heaven.

This is the lamb that was slain. This is the lamb that was silent. This is the one who was born of Mary, that beautiful ewe-lamb. This is the one who was taken from the flock, and was dragged to sacrifice, and was killed in the evening, and was buried at night; the one who was not broken while on the tree, who did not see dissolution while in the earth, who rose up from the dead, and who raised up mankind from the grave below. This one was murdered.
(Melito. Homily On the Passover).

HOW MUCH ARE YOU WORTH ?

Yes, YOU, who are reading this posting, have you ever asked yourself this question: ‘How much am I worth ?’  Some might have a Life Insurance Policy. What is the sum assured for your life ? Needless to suggest any answers, because there is a thousand and one answer to this question, depending on many factors; social standing, profession, financial situation, etcetera.

But have YOU ever realized that YOU are worth much more than any Life Insurance can give YOU, or can pay YOU back on Maturity Day ? Did YOU ever realise that the Almighty Creator, God Himself, God who created the Heavens and earth, who created the whole Universe, God who is not only Almighty, but, all Powerful, all Knowing, who is responsible for every breath YOU are taking, even right now, whilst reading in front of the computer, Who is responsible for every heart beat to keep YOU alive, this, our God took the nature of man, just because of YOU, for YOU, to redeem YOU.

HE not only took the nature of man, but HE suffered humiliation, was betrayed for the price of a ‘slave’, HE was treated as if HE were a criminal, insulted, spat upon …were YOU ever spat upon, were YOU ever insulted, were YOU ever beaten, flogged to death, were YOU ever crowned with thorns ? Certainly not, otherwise YOU would not be sitting at the computer reading. But God made man YES, He suffered all this because HE took YOUR place, to redeem YOU, personally.

This is the price HE paid for YOU so that YOU will be saved. The ‘maturity day’ when YOU take back what has been insured, is the day when YOU will face the Almighty Judge and HE will tell YOU: “Come into the Kingdom which was prepared for YOU.”  YOU are worth much more than YOU can imagine, and much more than any price the world can put to YOUR name.

Just look at the Crucifix, think, say within yourself: “All this because of me, all this suffering to save ME.” No, YOU are not simply one in a crowd and so YOU can  say that He suffered and died to save humanity. Yes, HE did save humanity, but HE Suffered, Died and Resurrected, just four YOUR sake, to save YOU.

YOU are worth much more than YOU think. No man, no business company, no relative, no friend can ever declare or fix YOUR real value. Only God can, because HE created YOU, and HE has created YOU for a particular purpose, for a single, unique, original purpose.

That is why HE shed all His Blood for YOU, to save YOU, because HE has an original Plan for YOU, that only YOU can fulfill. These ARE the Thoughts we have to reflect upon, during these coming days, as the Psalmist said: ‘What is man that you have created him little less than a god?’ For this reason a good Catholic, for that matter, a good Christian should always be happy, should always smile; knowing that the Almighty is at his side every second of his life. HE governs everything, come sun come rain, we are ‘in the palm of His hands’, because HE loves us, because He loves YOU.

HOMILY OF SAINT AUGUSTINE ABOUT THE VIRGIN MARY

“I implore you, listen well to what Jesus said to His disciples: ‘These are my mother and my sisters; those who do the will of my Father, who sent me; they are my brother, my sister and my mother.’ Is there any doubt about Mary, if she has done the will of God? She believed with faith, she conceived with faith, and, she was chosen to give birth to our Saviour to live amongst us. Christ created her before she gave Him birth. Yes, the Blessed Virgin did accept the Will of God. BUT, it was better for Mary, it was of a higher grade, for Mary, to be a disciple of Christ than to be His Mother. “

This declaration by St.Augustine, at first hearing, seems to many, like a ‘blow, a knock out’. He is saying that the first priority for Mary was to be a disciple of Christ and then to be His mother. But let us follow the argument brought forward by Augustine, a Doctor of the Church.

“Mary is blessed because, before giving birth to Jesus, she conceived in her womb. Try and follow my argument. One day Jesus was teaching and healing the sick, followed by a crowd listening to Him. A woman in the crowd told Him: ‘Blessed is the womb that gave you birth, and the paps that gave you suck.’ Jesus wanted to show that woman, and the crowd following Him, that blessedness and joy should not be tied to, or depend on the body, and He answered her: ‘But they are more blessed those who listen to the Word and live it.’ That is why Mary was blessed, because she listened to the Word of God and followed it, made it her programme of life. Christ was in her heart and spirit as well as in her womb, but it is better to have Christ in your heart,  than in your womb.”

We have to stop and think, think deeply, and try to follow the argument of Augustine. It is a fact, Mary carried Jesus for nine months in her womb, she gave birth to Jesus, this is all true. But, Augustine is arguing that more important than carrying Jesus in your womb for nine months and giving birth to Him, yes, more important, is, to be His disciple, to follow His words, to live His words. Mary was the first and foremost disciple of her Son, Jesus Christ.

This homily by St.Augustine is still used by the Church as the Liturgy for the Feast of the Presentation of  Mary. It is a very deep thought, but it should serve as ‘food for thought’. No one can deny the fact that it is such a great honour for that maiden, Mary from Nazareth, to be chosen by God, from eternity, to be His Mother. Why not, every woman should envy her. But, Mary paid the price when she declared: “Be it done with me according to your will’. That was the thought, the idea, the belief that it is of the utmost importance to be a disciple of Jesus, without lessening the honour of the Motherhood of Mary, the Theotokos. Mary herself suggested the idea when at Cana of Galilee she told the servants: “Do what He tells you.”  This is the one and only advice given to us by our mother, Mary, in the whole of the Scriptures. This means that she is underlining the fact, whilst declaring the great importance of ‘doing what He tells us … just as she has done. And to do what He tells you, you must be His disciple, just like Mary was.

SPIRITUAL GUIDELINES

Penance, penance, penance.  They only do penance who abstain from licit actions, that is, from those actions which are permissible.  Those who sin commit acts which are illicit, that is, which are not permissible.  They  do penance who deny themselves, who are patient, merciful and forgiving. God's justice demands absolutely what belongs to it.

Your relationship to God should cause you absolute delight in Him; that with your neighbours should give you pleasure in helping them; as to yourself, joy in being unknown and in being held as nothing.  In doing so, your prayers will be heard, your life becomes a kingdom of love and peace, and your  death an eternal blessing.

Beware of ever joking about holy matters, or of doing mechanically or negligently the things that are God's.  Beware of ever associating yourself with anything that even smacks of the least irreverence to God.  For indeed, holy and fearful is His Name.

No one in the world is more unhappy than the lover of money.  Yet even more unhappy is the one who lends money at a rate of interest higher than that assigned by Government, unless there is a just reason, or a just title, such as that of an unusually grave danger of losing one's money, or of not making a greater profit which one might otherwise easily realise, and so on.

From the Writings of St.George Preca, the Maltese Saint.