Keeping the Easter Spirit at Work
How do we keep the Easter Spirit at work? Let's start by reminding ourselves
that we not only remembered or celebrated Our Lord's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, but
we also - each and every one of us - rose in body and spirit with Him. That was the whole point of those special prayers, penances and charitable works we performed during Lent. We wanted to grow closer to Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for us. Our Lenten discipline kept us close to Him in His suffering in some special way. When he rose from the dead, we rose with Him, as He showed us that we too can rise and share with Him eternal joy in Heaven.
But what should we be doing now that Easter has arrived? Do we just set aside our Lenten efforts and go back to who we were before Ash Wednesday? I don't think so. We've changed. But how exactly have we changed? Perhaps we can sum it up like this: Closer to Christ means being like Christ.
Sounds good, but not being a theologian, don't take my word for it. So how about we look at what those far more qualified than I have to say about this? Let's start with Archbishop James Leen, C.S.Sp who explains how and why we must imitate Christ in our lives:
Try not to focus on yourself. Focus instead on your work, on doing it perfectly according to God's will. Remember: not your will, but God's. We receive sanctifying grace freely from God in order to be more like Him, that is, to do His Will. Don't know His will? Not sure what specifically you should be doing? Fair enough. So pray, ask Him for the actual grace necessary to do your work according to His will. Then go about your work.
(As a refresher, those graces considered actual, according to Germain Grisez, "move people to act in ways which positively contribute to God's redemptive work." You can find a good explanation of the difference between actual and sanctifying grace HERE.)
Still not sure if you're doing your work perfectly according to God's will? No worries. What counts here is your intention.
When Archbishop Leen refers to the flesh and its concupiscences, remember these keep us at a distance from Christ. That's why we continue to mortify ourselves even though it's not Lent. We want to keep control over the body. We don't want our senses to dominate and drive our thoughts, words, and actions throughout the day. Through our bodily mortifications, we free our spirit from subjugation to the body and its urges, which allows "the life of grace derived from Christ...freedom to develop."
Our work serves us well here. Putting our best efforts into our work, especially when your job is particularly demanding, leaves no time for self-indulgence. And when we offer our work to God, when we work for the greater glory of God and not ourselves, work can be a kind of conduit for God's graces, sanctifying and actual.
Hey, wait, I'm almost sounding like a theologian or something here. So let's move on. Next time we'll continue with our theme of keeping the Easter Spirit at work.
But what should we be doing now that Easter has arrived? Do we just set aside our Lenten efforts and go back to who we were before Ash Wednesday? I don't think so. We've changed. But how exactly have we changed? Perhaps we can sum it up like this: Closer to Christ means being like Christ.
Sounds good, but not being a theologian, don't take my word for it. So how about we look at what those far more qualified than I have to say about this? Let's start with Archbishop James Leen, C.S.Sp who explains how and why we must imitate Christ in our lives:
The Christian life consists in actions which reflect the spirit of Christ, nay, more, in actions that incarnate, as it were, the spirit of Christ. Jesus must, by our union with Him, by our elimination of self in favor of Him, be permitted to perpetuate, in some measure, His life in us…The great Apostle (Paul) has invented a completely new vocabulary to crystallize this truth. He speaks of being buried with Christ, of suffering with Christ, of rising with Christ, of being glorified with Christ, and so on. For the Apostle, the Passion, Death, and Resurrection were not events anchored in the sea of time, but events perpetually re-enacted in the Mystical Body. To the extent that the life of the first Adam is destroyed in the member of Christ, that is, to the extent that the life of the flesh and its concupiscences has been subjugated in him, the life of grace derived from Christ has freedom to develop…Now let's apply this to our work today.
Try not to focus on yourself. Focus instead on your work, on doing it perfectly according to God's will. Remember: not your will, but God's. We receive sanctifying grace freely from God in order to be more like Him, that is, to do His Will. Don't know His will? Not sure what specifically you should be doing? Fair enough. So pray, ask Him for the actual grace necessary to do your work according to His will. Then go about your work.
(As a refresher, those graces considered actual, according to Germain Grisez, "move people to act in ways which positively contribute to God's redemptive work." You can find a good explanation of the difference between actual and sanctifying grace HERE.)
Still not sure if you're doing your work perfectly according to God's will? No worries. What counts here is your intention.
When Archbishop Leen refers to the flesh and its concupiscences, remember these keep us at a distance from Christ. That's why we continue to mortify ourselves even though it's not Lent. We want to keep control over the body. We don't want our senses to dominate and drive our thoughts, words, and actions throughout the day. Through our bodily mortifications, we free our spirit from subjugation to the body and its urges, which allows "the life of grace derived from Christ...freedom to develop."
Our work serves us well here. Putting our best efforts into our work, especially when your job is particularly demanding, leaves no time for self-indulgence. And when we offer our work to God, when we work for the greater glory of God and not ourselves, work can be a kind of conduit for God's graces, sanctifying and actual.
Hey, wait, I'm almost sounding like a theologian or something here. So let's move on. Next time we'll continue with our theme of keeping the Easter Spirit at work.
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