A Fourth Sunday of Easter Thought to Start the Week Off Right

We've been focusing on how we keep our Sunday's, especially in this glorious Easter Season, reminding ourselves that every Sunday is a "little Easter." Growing up, I learned that one of the clear tenets of "keeping holy the Lord's Day" was to avoid "manual labor." Having never been a manual laborer - as is the case for most of us these days - I've wondered whether that includes such actions as working on my computer, planning my work week, catching up on work-related reading and study, etc. Over the years, I've come to some conclusions, but that's not what we'll discuss today.

Not that specifics aren't important here, of course. After all, as the saying goes, the devil's in the details. There have been Sunday's when my non-manual labor so dominated the day that I just knew something was off. I recall Sunday's where the day consisted of my staring at a computer screen, clicking my keyboard, doing research for an article I was writing, etc. Even as I was surrounded by my family, my attention, hence my mind, was "somewhere else." Sure, I got to Mass, but any thought of God was shelved within an hour of the priest intoning "Go the Mass is ended." That can't be the right way to keep holy the Lord's Day. Eventually I figured it out.

All I can say is that if you've struggled with this from time to time, you too, with some prayerful thought and attention, will figure it out. Do so and you'll enhance that special "Sunday time" that allows us to grow closer to God. In that light, here's something by Archbishop James Leen that requires Sunday time to digest. It's meaty. You'll need to chew on it for a bit: maybe a few readings, but certainly lots of thoughtful consideration. But isn't that perfect for Sunday, especially this Sunday in the Easter Season?

“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. If we are to fulfill the designs of God in our regard, we must allow God to discern some dim outline of the features of His Divine Son in the physiognomy of our soul. It must be the aim of the true Christian to make applicable to himself the words of Saint Paul: ‘I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.’

“The great Apostle 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: according as it does, the Christian in his life becomes identified with Christ and re-lives the life of Jesus. The Saints understood things thus. They did not content themselves with admiring the life of the Savior, they aimed at living it themselves. At times God deigns to give outward proofs of the actuality of this mystery as when He traced the marks of the Passion on the body of Saint Francis of Assisi. We must live the mysteries of Christ’s life, in the due order of these mysteries. All this living should subserve in us, and lead up to, the Resurrection.” (Archbishop James Leen, C.S.Sp.)

Archbishop Leen makes no attempt here to soft-peddle what's required by our Catholic Faith. He lays it on the line. I think the phrase "the Christian in his life becomes identified with Christ and re-lives the life of Jesus" perfectly captures not just the seriousness, but the awesomeness of our call to live the Gospel. After all, the Gospel, the Good News, recounts the life of Jesus. It's not just a bunch of facts, impressive miracles and stories Our Lord told to people who lived 2,000 years ago. His life, and our attempt to find our own life in His, mark the Christian as His true follower.

Holy Mother Church calls this the Fourth Sunday of Easter. It reminds us that we live now in the Easter Season, of the special graces that can flow to us if we open our hearts and minds to Our Risen Lord. The time we set aside on this Sunday to do so will assure our own resurrection some day. Don't let that time slip through your fingers. Remember thou keep holy the Lord's Day.

Happy Easter!