#John being the first to recognise Jesus in the distance after the resurrection too

[toubledrouble]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT!

TOURNAMENT OVERTIME #166

Submission 515

if you must ship Jesus with one of his disciples then at least ship him with John

look I'm a Christian (but like not the bad kind) and I don't personally ship Jesus with anyone cause that feels a bit too much rpf-y for me but I see people (jokingly, I assume, for the most part, but also this is the internet so I know some people are very serious about this) ship Jesus with either Judas or Peter and like....... tell me your knowledge of the Bible is the few Bible stories you remembered from sunday school as a kid without telling me that your knowledge of the Bible is the few Bible stories you remembered from sunday school as a kid. like yeah sure there's all these great stories about these guys that kids learn about! everyone who has some basic knowledge of the whole easter deal knows Judas and if you've learned any stories about Jesus with the disciples then you probably know about Peter. but like........ John is the guy. like go read the book of John if you don't believe me. like this is the guy who is canonically (fun reminder that the term "canon" originates from people discussing the Bible long long ago) "the disciple who Jesus loved." like Sufjan Stevens, king of "is he talking about his boyfriend or Jesus" refers to John & Jesus' relationships in his song "John My Beloved" which is hella gay and like it's all right there!!!!!! like this is so strange for me to be invested in because I'm not like someone who actively ships them but like if I wasn't religious and all I would be all over this and the fact that people keep being like "hehe Jesus and Judas~~~" when there's like no textual evidence for that!!! it's just people seeing the kiss of betrayal and liking some dramatic stuff!!! and the people who bring up Peter instead are the same!!! like you're just applying fanfic tropes to a dynamic and deciding that you like it instead of like looking at what's actually there in canon!!!!!!!! like at least do cool blasphemy or whatever I hate that I care about this. I hate that I wrote all of this. I have no dog in this fight. whoever wins I lose because I don't want to care about this in any way but I do and it's horrible and I just wish people would at least talk about the guy who when having to read his gospel like a year ago for something, I was left with the thought of "huh....... if I didn't know any better I'd say that there was something going on here"

Propaganda is encouraged!

Also, remember to reblog your favourite polls for exposure!

Now this is the discourse I live for.

Also, if your otp is chriscariot (Jesus/Judas) or chrisrock (Jesus/Simon Peter), fight for your ship in the notes!

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for 15th Sun after Pentecost (Dominican rite)

Gal 5:25-26, 6:1-10; Luke 7:11-16

The little Galilean village of Nain would have been forgotten and lost to history were it not for this miracle recorded only in St Luke’s Gospel. The location of Nain is not without significance. It is a short distance from Mount Tabor, within sight of the holy mountain where Our Lord was Transfigured. And this is fitting because it was on Tabor that Jesus revealed his glory to his disciples; it was on Tabor that Peter, James, and John had a glimpse of the resurrection and the heavenly life to come. So, too, through this miracle at Nain, it is as if his resurrection glory, shining forth from Mount Tabor, falls upon the widow’s son, and the dead young man is raised to life. This miracle, therefore points to the Resurrection of Christ through whom all the dead shall be raised to new life.

In the 4th century the bishop Eusebius of Caesarea noted that Nain was near another Biblical place, Endor where king Saul had consulted a witch and had asked her to summon the dead prophet Samuel in a séance so that he could consult him. There, at Endor, through a diabolical deception, the supposed ghost of Samuel is summoned and he speaks disaster for the king and his dynasty. One might say that due to Saul’s betrayal of God by daring to summon spirits and consult witches, God had abandoned Saul’s kingdom, and so it fell to the Philistines. So, the miracle at Nain reminds us that only God, who alone is the source of all life, can raise the dead; only God can give life and shed his glory upon Man. Hence, when Christ comes to the land and performs this miracle at Nain, the people cry out: “God has visited his people!”

Whereas Saul, in desperation at Endor, had looked to counterfeit powers and influences for life and hope of victory, in fact all he gains is death and destruction. For without God, there is only falsehood, failure, and destruction. For this is the destiny of Satan, and the evil spirits, and those who consort with the devil such as witches and mediums and fortune-tellers do. Therefore, at Nain, the Lord calls us to place our hope in him, and not in false gods nor in seductively easy and ‘quick fix’ so-called solutions that lead only to destruction. Instead, with patience and fortitude and with the theological virtue of hope, we profess: “exspécto resurrectiónem mortuórum, et vitam ventúri sǽculi”, ‘I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come’. As Christians, therefore, we profess our faith in eternal life in Christ and with Christ and through Christ, a heavenly glory that is foreseen on Mount Tabor by the apostles, where Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah, with those two prophets who are known in Judaism as the “living ones”, the undying ones. The glorious event of the Transfiguration makes clear that they receive their life from God, indeed, from Jesus Christ. So all who look to Christ, and who hear his Word, shall receive the gift of eternal life. All this is prefigured in the miracle at Nain of which we have heard in today’s Gospel.

Now when Jesus raises the only son of the widow of Nain, he does so purely by his Word, with a command: “Young man, I say to you, arise!” For God’s Word is creative and life-giving. As the psalmist says: “By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made” (Ps 33:6). So just as God creates all things through his Word, so too, by his Word, God brings a new creation into being, a new heavens and a new earth, and he restores all things to new life. Hence the people cried out, God has visited his people. For they recognised, in awe-filled fear, that in Christ, God is present among us. In Christ, God comes and shares our human condition; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And Christ does this, and works his miracles, so that through these signs and wonders the people can see that God has come to redeem and heal and restore all of creation. For creation had fallen under the influence of the Evil One, creation had been alienated from God, and Man had turned away and worshipped false gods, indeed, Man had tried to set himself up in place of God. But this only leads to death, failure and destruction. Therefore, Christ, moved by compassion at the predicament of Mankind (who is represented by the poor weeping widow of Nain) has come to save Mankind: by the power of his living Word, God comes to raise us first of all from the spiritual death of sin, which has cut us off from God, the source of all life. By his Word, therefore, he raises us to the new life of grace which is our life now, as Christians. And then Christ has come, secondly, to give us new hope in the “life of the world to come”. For as he says in St John’s Gospel: “all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgement.” (Jn 5:28f) So, it is by his Word, too, that our bodies and souls will be raised after death to eternal life, hopefully, with Christ in heaven. The miracle at Nain which is accomplished simply by Christ’s Word, therefore, points to both these new realities brought about by the Lord.

I want to focus now just on the life of grace, the raising of our bodies and souls from the spiritual death of sin. How does this happen? St Paul tells us in the epistle that our Christian lives involves dying to our old selves. Our sinful bodily habits and cravings have to die. So, too, our spiritual bad habits of pride, envy, self-conceit and so on. Then, the Holy Spirit, active in us through the grace of the sacraments, will raise us to a new life, to a new way of being and doing and behaving. As St Paul says: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another… For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal 5:25, 6:8)

If we pay attention to the original Greek text of today’s Gospel, it’s interesting to note that when Jesus commands the dead young man, he does not use the passive form, “Be raised”, but rather the active form, “Arise”, or in other translations “Get up”. So, although Christ, being God, is the cause of the miracle, the recipient is not entirely passive but co-operative. For it is likewise in the Christian life of grace, as we know. Although God is the giver of all grace, and the cause and origin and perfecter of our every good act, we must also be open to his grace and, as it were, co-operate with it, allowing God to be active in us and with us and through us. Hence St Augustine said: “God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us.”

Looking closely again at the miracle recounted in today’s Gospel, notice that, at Christ’s command, the dead man sits up, and then he begins to speak. Before one can speak, one has to draw breath. This action of the dead man, therefore, is an analogy for the life of grace. By the Word of God, we have been raised to new life for it is through the sacraments, principally through Baptism, that the Word of God is at work, and is bringing his new creation to be. As we hear Jesus declare in the book of the Apocalypse: “Behold, I make all things new” (Apoc 21:5).

Through the sacraments, Christ makes new all of creation; through the sacraments, Christ is at work to renew you and me with his grace so that we become a new Man, fully alive and mature in Christ. This comes about by the power of the Holy Spirit active in us. So, just as the young man of Nain has to breath in before he speaks, so we must breath in the Holy Spirit, the divine Breath of God, so that, with the Holy Spirit active within us, with God’s grace working in us, we can speak. Raised by God to new life, therefore, we are not to speak empty words nor words of gossip nor detraction nor words that are destructive and devoid of charity. Rather, we are enabled by the Spirit to praise God in our words and in our actions, so that we shall, indeed, proclaim the Gospel of salvation to those around us in what we say and in what we do. Thus St Paul says to you and to me: “as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal 6:10) Therefore, let our lives shine with good works and so give glory to our heavenly Father (cf Mt 5:16), for we draw our life from the Risen Lord: like the young man at Nain, we lift our face towards the light of Tabor, and turn our back on Endor.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

17th September >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 7:11-17 for Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘God has visited his people’. 

Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 7:11-17

The only son of his mother, and she a widow

Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople were with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.’ And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.

Gospel (USA)

Luke 7:11-17

Young man, I tell you, arise!

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.

Reflections (7)

(i) Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

When the people of Nain saw the extraordinary life-giving work that Jesus performed, they were filled with awe and praised God saying, ‘God has visited his people’. We too are drawn to Jesus because we recognise that in and through him God is visiting his people, all of humanity. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus was a visitation from God. The unknown and invisible God is made visible and knowable in the person of Jesus. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus reveals God to be one who brings new life out of death and who restores the loving relationship that has been broken by death. Jesus brought the deceased son of a widow back to life and then immediately gave him back to his mother. There is an image here of how God, through Jesus, continues to work in our lives. God is always at work bringing new life out of our various experiences of death, whether it is the physical death of our loved, our own personal death or all those anticipations of death that we experience in the course of our lives. The gospel reading suggests that God’s work of bringing new life out of death involves bringing together again loved ones who have become separated from each other. We can be confident that in bringing us to new life beyond this earthly life, the Lord will restore us to our loved ones, as he restored the young man to his mother. Jesus reveals God to be a God of life and love, who works to bring new life out of death and to restore and enhance all our loving relationships.

And/Or

(ii) Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

In the time of Jesus, widows were considered very vulnerable; they no longer had their main provider, their husband. Widows often had to depend on their children, particularly their sons, to support them. A widow who lost her only son through death was, therefore, the most vulnerable of all. It is such a widow that Jesus encounters in today’s gospel. The gospel reading tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion by this woman’s plight. That inner movement of compassion resulted in action on his part, as he restores her son to life and gives him back to his mother. The widow did not take any initiative towards Jesus; she did not cry out to him for help. Without waiting to be asked, Jesus simply responded to a situation of human grief and loss. The same risen Lord reaches out to us today in our situations of grief and loss. When we are at our most vulnerable, his compassion is at its strongest. We are not asked to carry our grief and our loss on our own; the Lord carries us with us; he suffers with us. ‘To suffer with’ is the literal meaning of compassion. The Lord also calls on us to be channels of his compassion to each other in our hour of need, to help carry each other’s burdens, as he carries ours.

 And/Or

(iii) Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

In yesterday’s gospel reading, Jesus comments on the extraordinary faith of the Roman centurion in asking Jesus to heal his servant at a distance. In this morning’s gospel reading, nothing is said about anyone’s faith. Indeed, no request is made of Jesus by anyone. Jesus simply sees a widow walking alongside the body of her only son as he was being carried for burial. When Jesus saw her, he was filled with compassion for her, as was the Samaritan when he saw the broken Jewish traveller and the father who saw his lost son returning home. Without being asked to do anything, without any evidence of faith, Jesus simply acts out of his compassion, raising the young man to life and giving him back to his widowed mother so that she would not be alone in the world. Jesus’ compassion is drawn by nothing else than the afflicted state of this family. It is only after this extraordinary initiative of Jesus that reference is made to any human response to Jesus, ‘everyone was filled with awe and praised God, saying “a great prophet has appeared among us”’. The gospel reminds us that the Lord’s initiative in our regard is not dependant on our having a certain level of faith. He comes towards us as we are, and the greater our need the stronger his coming. The Lord graces us with his presence and his gifts. Having been surprisingly and undeservedly graced by the Lord’s compassionate presence, we cannot but respond to such a grace in the way that the crowd did in today’s gospel reading, praising God for the gift of his Son.

And/Or

(iv) Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

There are many stories in the gospels where people reach out to Jesus in their need and he responds to them. In the story we have just heard from Luke’s gospel, Jesus takes the initiative to reach out to the widow of Nain who had just lost her son, without any request being made of him. Luke tells us that when Jesus saw her, he had compassion for her, and he then acted out of his compassion, restoring her son to her. The same was said of the Samaritan in the parable that Jesus would go on to tell in Luke’s gospel. The Samaritan saw the broken traveller by the roadside, had compassion on him and acted out of his compassion, restoring his dignity to him. Jesus reaches out to all of us in our need, without waiting for us to call on him. He is there before us even before we seek him. He is present to us in his compassion, whether or not we call upon him. Our prayer does not make him present; it is always a response to his presence. He comes towards us and our calling is to receive his coming.

 And/Or

(v) Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

It is said of Jesus in today’s gospel reading that when he saw the grieving widow he had compassion for her. In two of the parables that Jesus speaks in Luke’s gospel we find that same description of a compassionate response to someone. The Samaritan had compassion for the broken traveller; the father had compassion for his returned son. In all three cases someone identifies very closely with the sufferings of someone else, whether their emotional suffering as in the case of the widow, or their physical suffering as in the case of the broken traveller, or their physical, emotional and spiritual suffering as in the case of the returning son. In today’s gospel reading and in the two parables Jesus tells the compassion shown is a revelation of God’s compassion. It is not said of the widow in today’s gospel reading that she had faith or that she asked Jesus for anything. Jesus simply reaches out to her in her need. Compassion does not ask questions about a person’s suitability to be served. Jesus, the Samaritan and the father all acted out of compassion without asking questions or making a judgement as to whether the person was deserving of help or not. Jesus is often portrayed as responding to people’s faith, but he is also portrayed as taking the initiative towards people without first looking for faith. It might be reassuring to remember that when our own faith seems weak.

 And/Or

(vi) Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus ministers to a grieving widow. He restores her son to life and then he gives the restored young man to his mother. Jesus regularly ministered to those who were broken in body, mind and spirit. In this instance, he is moved with compassion by the broken heart of a grieving widow. Jesus was close to people in their grief. In John’s gospel he stands alongside Mary and Martha whose brother Lazarus had just died and brings life out of their experience of death. We can all find ourselves with an opportunity from time to time of ministering to the bereaved, to those whose heart is broken because they have lost a loved one. We may not be able to do what Jesus did for the widow at Nain, but our compassionate presence to someone grieving can be truly life-giving for them. We may not have much to say to them, but our presence, our desire to be with them in their grief, can itself be a very consoling message. It is striking that no reference is made to the faith of the widow in the gospel, or to the faith of her son. She didn’t approach Jesus trusting in him for help, as so many others did. Jesus simply took an initiative towards her because he was deeply moved by her brokenness of heart and spirit. Our own ministry to the bereaved needs to be just as spontaneous. Without raising any question regarding their faith, we are there with the grieving simply because they need us. Compassion does not ask questions; it is happy to walk alongside those whose brokenness is calling out for companionship.

 And/Or

(vii) Tuesday, Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

It has been remarked that at the beginning of this gospel story a parade of life meets with a parade of death. Jesus accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people approach the gate of the town of Nain. Coming in the opposite direction is a dead man being carried out for burial, the only son of his widowed mother, surrounded by a considerable number of the people of Nain. When these two very different processions meet, something extraordinary happens. Without waiting to be asked to do anything, Jesus, filled with compassion for the widowed mother, restores life to the young man and gives him back to his mother. The parade of death becomes a parade of joy with people praising God for visiting his people through the person of Jesus.  The gospel reading reminds us that Jesus has entered our world as a life-giver. In the words of the great prayer of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, Jesus reveals the tender mercy of God by giving light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. The same risen Lord stands among us as light in our darkness and as life in our death. Whenever we find ourselves as part of some parade of death, we can be assured that the Lord of life is drawing near to us, even if he has not been called upon. He comes to bring us life so that we in turn can be life-givers in our world. The Lord who visits us at the head of a parade of life, sends us out as his messengers of life to enhance and protect life in all its forms.

  Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  revmartinhogan@gmail.com

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for Low Sunday

1 Jn 5:4-10 ; John 20:19-31

Today’s Gospel takes place on the evening of the first Easter Sunday, after the Risen Lord had appeared to St Mary Magdalene, and after she had told the disciples that she had seen the Lord. Nevertheless, the disciples, those close followers of the Lord were not convinced. Like Thomas, they too did not believe until they had seen the Lord themselves. Hence, they remained hidden in the upper room in Jerusalem, “the doors being shut… for fear of the Jews”.     And then the Lord comes to them, and shows them his wounds, and they “were glad when they saw the Lord.” St Thomas, therefore, doesn’t really deserve the moniker ‘doubting Thomas’ since, in fact, all the apostles doubted until they saw the Risen Lord. 

But notice that in this Gospel the risen Lord reveals two things. Firstly, he sends forth the Holy Spirit and breathes upon his disciples. Secondly, he proclaims a beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” And who is that beatitude for? Clearly, it doesn’t apply to any of the apostles, since each of them only believed because they had seen the Lord. 

This past Easter week I have been watching ‘The Chosen’ which is a beautifully and vividly dramatised account of the life of Christ, and the response of the apostles and first disciples is very well portrayed. Often we can wonder, what would it have been like to encounter Christ when he walked by the shores of Galilee, or went to the market place in Nazareth. What would it have been like to encounter the Risen Lord in Emmaus, or in the upper room in Jerusalem? And we might think that these first disciples of Jesus, who ate and walked and talked with him were very fortunate indeed. We might think, how I wish I could have done the same! 

But today, the Lord reveals to us a blessedness that is even greater than the blessedness that the apostles had in seeing and touching him. Jesus says: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” In other words, there is a blessedness that Jesus gives to you and me, who are those who have not seen him, and yet believe. This is the blessedness, the joy, the happiness of faith, of believing in the risen Lord Jesus. And how is this beatitude given to us? Faith is a divine gift, and it is given to us through the Holy Spirit. Thus, in the Gospel, Jesus first breathes forth the Holy Spirit, who is the “giver of Life”, and he then pronounces the beatitude of the blessedness of faith. For it is the Holy Spirit who produces faith in our hearts, and leads us into a deeper union with Christ. So the Catechism says that “The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection.” (CCC 737)

In our own time, we too have heard the good news of the Resurrection, like those apostles who heard the report of St Mary Magdalene. But do we believe that he is risen? Do we know that Jesus is victorious over sin and sickness and death? And indeed, do we recognise, with a living faith, that the risen Lord is present, even if our doors remain shut because of fear? If perhaps you are struggling – and we all do at times – then pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and give you faith; to come and teach you, for Jesus has promised that he will send his Spirit to be our consoler and our helper. God, indeed, can come into our hearts, even if they are shut up by fear, and he wants to come to give us his peace. But we must be ready to welcome him. 

At this time, when we are physically distanced from one another, and when we cannot get to church, nor receive the Sacraments, we must not think that we are completely bereft and abandoned. Rather, the Lord has foreseen all things, and he knows all things, and this present pandemic has been provided for by God from all eternity. The unwise and those of weak faith panic because they think that God has somehow failed to provide for such horrible times as these, or that he has failed to give us the leadership we need, or that he has left us to perish without the sacraments. And yet, a genuine and living faith means that we know that God is good and provident and is the source of all that is, and so, God never permits evil except in view of some greater good. So, firstly, if we recall the Word of God in Scripture, listen again to the teaching of Christ: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you… In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you… But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” 

All this was said in John chapter 14, on the night before the Lord was crucified. And now, in our time of suffering, in our own extended passiontide, remember again the words of the Lord: He promises to come to us, and he does this invisibly through his grace, through the gift of faith. And then he promises us the Holy Spirit who directs our faith to the truth, a truth that consoles and brings peace to our troubled and worried, fearful, hearts. The promise of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus makes before his death, is now fulfilled in today’s Gospel, as the Risen Lord gives the Holy Spirit to his apostles, and he gives the Spirit to you and to me so that in the middle of all the turmoil of this life and this sinful world, we will have peace because we believe in the promises of the Risen Lord. Therefore, receive the Holy Spirit today, and welcome him into your hearts again and again. 

The gift of faith that the Spirit gives us means knowing that Christ stands among us, despite our fears and worries. It means opening the doors of our hearts to him, and knowing his abiding presence in the soul through grace. Faith means, above all, surrendering to God’s will in the present moment; being abandoned to his providence, with confidence that he is merciful and loving and provides the grace that sanctifies us and draws us into a spiritual union with God. For we believe that even the evils that beset us now are only permitted by the good and provident God in order that he might bring about an even greater good, above all, the good of conversion and salvation. This is what we believe through faith: faith in the goodness of God; faith in the God who has revealed himself to us; faith in the God who rises from the dead. Alleluia! Therefore in the epistle today St John says: “whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.”  

The world, lacking faith in God, is full of foreboding and gloom and forecasts of tragedy. Some of these analyses about the future may even come true. But, we, who have been given faith, can overcome these fears and doubts of the world. For we know that all is held in God’s providence, and he has provided plentiful help and grace for us to thrive in holiness in these times; indeed, he has provided for our salvation from the very beginning. Therefore, heed the words of today Officium, the entrance chant, and let us be “like new-born babes” who “rejoice in God [who is] our helper”. In him, our Lord and God, do we place all our hope. And because Jesus overcame death, the greatest of human enemies and fears, then we know that we shall be victorious over the fearful expectations of the world too. For we Christians live in expectation of the Resurrection, and life everlasting. Therefore, with countless souls across the world and across time, we turn to the risen Lord today and we say: “Jesus, I trust in you.”