Monday, March 28, 2011

"And unto dust you shall return"

Ash Wednesday is more than an empty ritual --

it is a reminder of our mortality and frailty...



By Dr. John - Mark L. Miravalle. A snippet from his article in the Homiletic & Pastoral Review. March 2011 edition.


"If death were fitting to our nature, we'd have no problem with it.

"Death, however, scares us: cemeteries and corpses unnerve us, and the thought of ourselves or a loved one in a casket is profoundly disturbing.

"This is because death wasn't supposed to happen.

"It's an effect of original sin; it is, perhaps, the most vivid and unnatural fact around.

"Fortunately, God brought good out of evil.

"He took the evil of death, and made it the occasion of redemption for the whole human race.

"God himself came to earth and died for the salvation of the world by rising again and thus giving us the opportunity to rise with him."


He quotes St. Paul here:


"If the Spirit of hi who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you (Rom 8.11)."


He summarizes:


"In other words, our Lord conquered death, and his conquest allows to us to hope for a new life beyond the threshold of our mortality.

"The consequence for the Christian is that death's terror is diluted: Oh, death, where is your sting? (I Cor 15:55).

"Death itself has now been charged with a new positive significance.

"Now, instead of just marking the end of our temporal life, death marks the beginning of our eternal life ..."


Thanks, Professor! :)

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