Day 33: Freedom of Christ Raised
Author: Andrew Comiskey
November 14, 2021
Editor’s Note: TOB is the abbreviation for Pope St. John Paul II’s book “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body” Pauline Press
First freezing morning:
harder to see and feel Risen Jesus in dismal cold. Fire on, fire up! If the faithful
can’t re-ignite from our incendiary Source, what good are we to a numb world?
He lives to inflame our damp witness and sharpen dull spirits, especially in the
darkness.
Resurrection lights up the
night. It changes everything. Not only did Jesus descend into the hell of our
disintegration, He broke its power to define us. Raised from the dead and clutching
us as He catapults into new life, we too emerge into the light of a new day, in
Alistair McGrath’s language, ‘the first day of a new creation.’
What does the ‘new
creation’ mean for those in pursuit of integration? Let’s look at what it does
not mean. Being raised with Christ this side of heaven doesn’t mean no more
becoming. It means that every disjointed, overwrought, misaligned, and unplugged
part of us is now bathed in glory. Resurrection invites us to look at our haggard
face or performance in the light of Jesus beaming at His favorite one. Love
invites us to laugh at our stubborn weakness, to rebuke discouragement and
proceed onto wholeness. Hope does not disappoint!
TOB has much to say about
hope. Pope St. John Paul II emphasizes hope’s reign now, not just in heavenly communion with
Jesus. He emphasizes ‘the hope of the
everyday’ (86:6)—how the Risen Christ pours out real redemptive power through
the Holy Spirit to redeem the body, including soul and spirit. (JP II is more
Hebraic than Greek in refusing rigid distinctions here.)
I marvel at the stream of
new life running through every biblical passage he parses in TOB: the power of
indissoluble marriage (Matt. 19) amid each person’s tendency to profound
adultery of heart (Matt. 5:27, 28), and the witness of both well-ordered
celibates (Matt. 22) and marrieds (Eph. 5) to reveal to everyone the hope of
ultimate consummation with Jesus. JP II endows these passages with redemptive
power—the Spirit of Resurrection—who liberates pilgrims seeking integration
(and heaven) to realize on earth ‘the hope of victory over sin’ (86:6).
Risen Jesus clarifies for us
Eden’s blueprint—His design for our sexual humanity--and a path for our
redemption. Resurrection insists we take responsibility for securing
trustworthy ones who accompany us on the Way: this and not that—walk we must.
Walk we can. Along the way, His burning Light may well reveal new fractures He
wants to restore. Fret not! Raised with Him, we can see it, say it, and proceed
to integrate through this adventure of a lifetime.
‘Jesus, rouse the
gift we are. Help us to attend to the treasure you summon from the trash. Free
us from our constant faultfinding and free us for vestiges of paradise in our
memories and in our lives today. We refuse the liar who tries to rewrite Eden
out of our histories. Unite us to the home of our original dignity.’
‘Jesus, have
mercy on us as Your Church. We have abused weaker members, including children,
and protected ourselves. We have violated the most vulnerable. In Your mercy,
free us to superabound with justice. Grant us Kingdom discernment and courage
to reform ourselves. May our repentance grant us Kingdom authority to
strengthen the weak, discipline violators, and restore the violated.’
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