Daily prayer
to St. Jude

O kindSaint-Jude, our faithful intercessor to Jesus, receive the following special intentions : to present them to the Almighty Lord, Root of all good. Above all, grant us an increase of our faith in His love. May each day find us closer in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. KindSaint-Jude, you who has revived hope in our hearts, you whose model merits and life bring us the divine blessings and graces, be our advocate, and lead us to Jesus and Mary. With you, blessed apostle, we give thanks and praise God with all our heart for His innumerable kindnesses. Amen.

The Monthly Note

April 2008

We will resurect

by Fr. Ovila Bélanger, OP

During the Easter period, we are invited to meditate on Christ’s resurrection.  Fifty days, is not much to study such a great mystery.  Yes, we believe that Jesus resurrected, but we are far from having proof of it.   This mystery throws us in a world that is far different than ours.

Nobody saw Jesus at the moment He was resurrecting.  However He appeared to the Apostles many times.  It was truly Him before them.  He had a real body, even though He came in the room while the doors were locked.  The Apostles touched Him, they ate with Him.  We can sorely imagine the condition of Jesus’ resurrected body.  We have to believe the Apostles testimony, these men of faith, to proclaims that Jesus is truly resurrected.

Believing in Jesus’ resurrection mixes us up.  Indeed, Jesus promised us, His disciples, that we would resurrect.  This promise is not obvious.  No deceased has come back to tell us what happens after death. So how can we believe in Jesus’ resurrection, as well as in our own future resurrection?

When we read the Gospels carefully, we see what brought about the Apostles to believe in Jesus’ resurrection.  It was more the Scriptures than Jesus’ apparitions.  It was by rereading and meditating the writings of the prophets and the psalms that the believed that Jesus was resurrected.  It is stated in the story of Jesus’ apparition to the disciples of Emmaus( Luke 24: 13-35)  and in other evangelical stories.  As for our own resurrection, it lies on Jesus’ promise, He who has stated many times: « He who believes in Me will have eternal life, and I will resurrect him at the end of time».

Evidently, it is faith that permits us to believe in Christ’s promise.  But, I would say that this promise places itself in the logic of our life in union with Christ.  If we follow Jesus’ footsteps and live according to the Gospel, it is normal that, like Christ, we, too, triumph over death.  By that,  I do not want to imply that our resurrection is owed to us; but it will be the normal result of a life lived following our Master’s, Jesus, footsteps.  If we resemble Him on Earth, why not resemble Him in the After-life?  Quoting Saint Paul, «what goes on in our mind will go on in the members of the spiritual body that we form with Christ».

Ovila Bélanger o.p.

«He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.» (Mt 28,6)