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Is the Church a thermometer or a thermostat? In other words are we called merely to reflect the temperature (thermometer), or are we called to affect the temperature (thermostat)? Many are deeply confused as to the role of the Church in the modern world and think we ought simply to reflect the mores of current times, rather than to prophetically announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yes, there are many who insist that the Church needs to “get with the times……Update her teachings….be more modern in her thinking, teachings and structures.” She needs to “Listen more to young people and speak their language and share their vision.”

Put more in a hostile way, the Church “needs to abandon her medieval ways, cease being hostile, judgmental, intolerant, bigoted, sexist, homophobic, hateful etc” (and the usual list of modern accusations that reflect more the accuser’s personal issues than the Church).

During the recent Papal Conclave the media had a field day interviewing various degrees and types of disaffected Catholics who all presented their wish list (or list of demands) of how the Church should change to be tenable and relevant to modernity and regain their “loyalty.” Most of the demands of course had to do with sex and power: that the Church should approve contraception and promote it, homosexual activity and same sex unions should get the thumbs up, divorce and remarriage should be approved, women and active gays ordained, priest should be bale to get married, abortion approved, euthanasia applauded, etc.

And somehow if the Church does all this, our parishes will be filled again and all will be right with the world.

Never mind that the Liberal (mainline) Protestants have tried all this for decades, approving whatever the people and the polls demanded, and with that approach their numbers have plummeted, far lower that any Catholic Parish. Never mind too that the only Protestant denominations that are growing at all are the more biblically conservative Evangelical Protestants who reject a good bit of the list of demands above.

But at the end of the day, the lists of demands above all show a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of the Church. The Church does not exist to be a mere expression or manifestation of current popular or cultural views. The Catholic Church does not and cannot draw her inspiration from these, but rather must draw from the Word of God as it has been faithfully passed on for twenty centuries.

The Church does not exist to merely reflect and parrot the views of her parishioners, gleaned from polls and focus groups. She exists to reflect the views of her founder and head, Jesus Christ. And the Jesus referred to here is not some fake Jesus reinvented by moderns who use dubious and tortured methodologies to radically reinterpret Scripture so that it no longer “means” what it clearly says. Rather, we owe allegiance to the real Jesus, the Biblical Jesus. It is to Him that we look for Him that we speak. (More on that in another post).

But as for the Church, the cry goes up frequently in our culture today that the Church, and her clergy catechist other leaders should refrain From any sort of teaching or preaching that plainly characterizes immoral actions for the sins they are. Many, even among the clergy, insist on a “do no harm” mentality And any utterance which might even in the remotest possible way offend somebody, is strongly eschewed and denounced. Even directly quoting from the Scriptures, or the Catholic catechism, Is shamelessly denounced as hate speech. This is an egregious violation for those who only want the Church to be a thermometer.

And thus, the traditional “thermostatic” practice of the Church is to speak clearly about sin, but also to influence people to seek God’s offer of grace and mercy is largely scorned as “unloving,” even “hateful.”

The claim is made that since “God is love,” and Jesus loves everyone, therefore everything is somehow fine and any critique is somehow “unloving” and “un-Christ-like.”

In the biblical texts below, I hope to show forth that the consistent pastoral advice given in the Scriptures confirms the Church’s traditional approach. What follows is a kind of pastoral manual gleaned from the Scriptures.

I do not claim it to be complete, but have assembled these particular texts to affirm that God the Holy Spirit certainly expects the Church, and her clergy, as well as parents and other leaders to clearly and unambiguously address moral issues of the day. They also affirm that the goal of the Church is not simply to fit in, and, like a thermometer, reflect the values and wishes of the day. Rather, she is to thermostatically announce and seek to influence the world by speaking the ancient and tested wisdom that the Lord God himself has handed down through Biblical Tradition as well as Sacred Tradition. As such, this is an act of love, for it is good pastoral practice recommended by God the Holy Spirit Himself. The comments in Red are mine, and I admit some remarks are dripping with sarcastic irony as I play the role, in some of the remarks of an bemused or “outraged” interlocutor.

I. Some Old Testament admonitions to priests and prophets:

• Malachi 2: 7For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. 8But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble. In other words, the priest has as a primary task to preserve and pass on ancient wisdom rather than to merely rehash modern jargon and views. They are to be a messenger for the Lord, not for the latest cause or rage. I failing to do this he causes the downfall of many.
• Isaiah 56: 10Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep….They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way. In other words, the priest, prophet, parent and leaders of the Church are not supposed to be dumb dogs. Dogs are supposed to bark to warn of trouble and also to scare off interlopers. Too many priests and Church leaders are silent, they are dumb dogs, they cannot bark. But they should! Those of the “do no harm” mentality fail follow the instruction to be a guard dog. Further they turn a blind eye to error and evil
• Ezekiel 3: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. Here too the pastor, the shepherd, the leader is expect to warn sinners, not merely and gleefully affirm, tell jokes and avoid all offense.

II. That Jesus insisted that the Church take stands against sin and evil and not tolerate the presence of evil and error within her. Further that the Church must be willing to suffer on account of proclaiming the truth.

• Matt 18:17 If they (the sinner) still refuse to listen (to fraternal correction), tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Hence the Church ought to discipline some, in more serious matters with punitive measures, and even with excommunication. And this is not un-Christ-like for he himself said it.
• Matt 5: 13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. But salt and light affect the word around them, not merely reflect the world around them.
• John 15:18 If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. Well if our job is to fit in, offend no one, do no harm and say nothing controversial, if our job is to merely reflect the culture and thoughts of the world, to be modern and up to date, then who is going to hate us? The text indicates that hatred from the world is NOT a sign we have necessarily done something wrong, but that we are in good company with Jesus and the martyrs. The thermometer Church cannot possibly fulfill this text.
• Rev 2:4 (to Ephesus) 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Oops, did Jesus say “hate” here? Didn’t he get the memo that we’re not suppose to hate anyone’s practices, but that we are supposed to affirm everyone, and not just every one, but every thing they do, since they identify themselves by what they do? Didn’t Jesus get the memo not to “judge”?
• Rev 2:14 (to Pergamum) Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Wait a minute, is Jesus telling the Church that it is wrong to affirm sin? I thought we were not only to accept sinners, but also to affirm their practices. Here too, it seems that Jesus didn’t get the modernist memo. He even, kinda seems mad that the Church is tolerating evil!
• Rev 2:20 (to Thyatira) 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. Uh oh! did Jesus just rebuke the Church for “tolerating” something? Doesn’t he know that the we’re supposed to tolerate everything and that we are just being hateful if we don’t. Man, Jesus is certainly unreformed.

III. Pastoral advice to Bishops, pastors, teachers, parents and other leaders in the Church:

• 1 Thess 2:2We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. 3For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. 7Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, 8so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Now wait a minute, what was St. Paul doing in Jail? Did he offend someone? Did he say something controversial or “hateful?” Note too his central point, that our aim is to please God, not man. Would that every preacher entered a pulpit with this motive and this courage. The thermometer Church will be up in arms, but the Lord will be pleased.
• 2 Tim 4: 1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
  But what if people are offended? Don’t you care, St. Paul? Didn’t you get the memo that you’re supposed to only preach the gospel when it is popular? What is this “out of season” stuff? Who talks about football in summer? Get with the times! And how dare you suggest that people might not “tolerate” the truth! It is only true Christians that intolerant. It is not possible for the modern open-minded person to be intolerant, only Bible-believing Catholics and certain Christians are intolerant. Get your terms right. Aren’t the people (except for traditional Christians) and the current times always right, and should not the message be adapted?
• Titus 1:10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain…..Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith…16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. Wow talk about judgmental! Someone send St. Paul (and the Holy Spirit who wrote this) a memo and tell him that he might offend some one! This sort of talk certainly doesn’t fit the “kinder-gentler” vision of the Church either. Now, granted, in our current times, such plain characterization is less common, and should only be used judiciously.
• 2 Tim 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
• 2 Cor 4:2-6By setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. Wow, you mean to say that if the modern world doesn’t “get” the message, doesn’t understand it, that the problem is them and not the message?! Once again St. Paul didn’t get the memo that the problem is ALWAYS the Church and NEVER the world. Note too that St. Paul claims to speak for Christ. Here too the world shudders and claims that privilege for itself over and against St. Paul. Note too that St. Paul sets the Word of God forth “Plainly” Whereas too many clergy over the years have preferred to speak in abstractions and generalities, and to be any thing but plain in speaking clearly to moral issues of the day.
  
• 2 Cor 5:12 ff Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.…13If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you…And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. If only St. Paul would parrot the world, and the evening news agenda, he would not be considered “out of his mind.” But since he insists on all the “repentance stuff” and “judges” us to need reconciliation, he is, ipso facto, out of his mind.
• 1 Cor 4:9ff 9For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! Well if only Paul and the Church would toe the line, everything would be just fine. Hmm…. If he’d just become a thermometer instead of a troubling and meddlesome thermostat, he would be honored. Once again, it looks like the early Church and the advice of Scripture does not square with modernist insistence on being populist.
• Acts 20: 26Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole counsel of God. 28Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.Note here that the Church has the task to proclaim the whole counsel, not just what is popular or safe.

IV. On the challenge to stay in the conversation and patiently exhort:

• 2 Tim 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. Hence we do not look for arguments, nor do we seek hate. We soberly admit it may well come our way, but we seek to stay in the conversation hoping at least to plant seeds.
• Gal 6:1Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.So the operative word is gentle, and the disposition is humility. Clarity with Charity.
  

Allow these to suffice for now. But note clearly that the “do-no harm” and never offend, “any rebuke = hate” school of thought is pretty well set aside in the pastoral manual of Scripture. It looks like the Church actually IS supposed to speak to the sin of our times, summon to repentance and and offer God’s grace and mercy to actual sinners, who acknowledge themselves to be such. And, as the last scriptures also note, this work is to be done with patience and charity. But it IS to be done.

It’s old time religion, but more than that it is true.

In the last few years the phrase “Bucket List” has come into the American lexicon. A bucket list is a list of this to accomplish before you die. There is some sort of TV show related to this that I have never seen, but from the few snips I have seen, it is mostly about frivolous, even unpleasant stuff.

But for the Christian the Scriptures announce a number of things that we well out to have either done or have up and running long before we die. Our goal is to die in an act of loving God, to die in the life giving transformation relationship we we call faith. And our prayer is that grace and mercy have had the necessary affects to make us ready to go home and be with God.

The list that I present here is modified by me a bit, but in essence not original to me. It comes from Joel Meredith’s Complete Book of Bible Lists: A One-of-a-Kind Collection of Bible Facts. Consider well this bucket list and share it with others. Are you ready to go meet God? Let’s see.

1.    It becomes us to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15).
2.    Live, not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
3.    Worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve (Matthew 4:10).
4.    Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
5.    Repent and believe the Good News! (Mark 1:15)
6.    You must be born again through baptism (John 3:7).
7.    Worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
8.    Repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38).
9.    Take and Eat, This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me (Mark 14:22).
10.    Reckon yourselves dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:11).
11.    Present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God (Romans 12:1).
12.    Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit (1 Corinthians 6:20).
13.    Desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1).
14.    Stand fast in the faith (1 Corinthians 16:13).
15.    Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30).
16.    Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
17.    Pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18).
18.    Rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 3:1).
19.    Set your heart on things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, rather than things of earth  (Colossians 3:1–2).
20.    Let the peace of God rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15).
21.    Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom (Colossians 3:16).
22.    Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through him (Colossians 3:17).
23.    Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
24.    In everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
25.    Do not neglect your spiritual gift (1 Timothy 4:14).
26.    Lay hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12).
27.    Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord (2 Timothy 1:8).
28.    Strive to enter into the rest of the people of God (Hebrews 4:11).
29.    Hold fast to your profession of faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:23).
30.    The just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38).
31.    Keep Holy the Sabbath, do not neglect to Meet together each Sunday (Heb 10:25).
32.    Despise not the correction of the Lord, for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives (Hebrews 12:5–6).
33.    Make straight paths for your feet, Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:13-14).
34.    Refuse not Him who speaks and warns from heaven (Hebrews 12:25).
35.    Offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name (Hebrews 13:15).
36.    Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls (James 1:21).
37.    Submit yourselves to God (James 4:7).
38.    Is any among you afflicted? Let him send for the priests of the Church, let them anoint him (James 5:13).
39.    Declare your sins by regular celebration of Confession (John 20:21-23; James 5:13).
40.    Declare with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. (Romans 10:9)
41.    Sanctify the Lord God in your heart (1 Peter 3:15).
42.    Commit the keeping of your soul to God in well doing (1 Peter 4:19).
43.    Cast all your care upon him, for he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).
44.    Look for and hasten the coming of the Day of Lord (2 Peter 3:12).
45.    Devote yourself to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
46.    Build up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost (Jude 20).
47.    Keep yourselves in the love of God (Jude 21).
48.    Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works (Revelation 2:5).
49.    Fear God, and give glory to him (Revelation 14:7).
50.    Worship him that made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains of waters (Revelation 14:7).

OK, there it is, the Bucket List. See to it now. If you would like to print it out, here is a PDF of the document: A Biblical Bucket List for Believers.

I am sure some of you will wish to add. But if you do add, what would you subtract? 50 is kind of a handy number. By the way, the short list is always Acts 2:42:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (Scripture)
and to fellowship (Church attendance),
to the Breaking of Bread (Eucharist and all the Sacraments)
and to prayer (liturgical and private).

Finally the Book of James says, Adulterers! don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4) And in this light, the bucket list helps us to forsake our inordinate love of this world and turn to God our true Love.

And thus, for those who would love this world the bucket list of 50 items becomes a kind of “50 ways to leave your lover” (i.e. the world):

It was sad to read the public comments of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington denying the importance, or need for the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus from the dead,  going so far as to imply this teaching was “outlandish. ” More on that in a moment, but first some background.

Some time ago I brought a former Episcopalian into the Catholic Church who, after the Rite of Reception gave a great sigh of relief and said, “I know the Catholic Church is not without problems, but at least I know the Bishops actually hold the Christian faith. It is such a relief to be in the harbor of truth.”

I remember at the time wondering with him if that wasn’t a bit of an exaggeration of how bad things were in the Episcopalian denomination (this was about 1990). But he showed me a scrapbook of article after article of dozens of Episcopal “Bishops” denying quite publicly the divinity of Christ, the Virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus, that there was any inherent conflict between Christianity and Unitarianism, etc., not to mention a plethora aberrant moral stances.

Most notable among them, but not at all alone, is now retired Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong who still freely roams the halls of Episcopal parishes and openly calling the Nicene Creed “a radical distortion of the Gospel of John” and declaring that Jesus Christ did not die to redeem humanity from its sins, even going so far to say that we are not sinners at all [*], in outright contradiction to Scripture (e.g. 1 John 1:10) and, frankly, common sense.

The scrapbook was quite thick with painful articles of Episcopal bishops and clergy saying and doing the most incredible things, outright denying basic dogmas. Indeed, when a Christian leader publicly denies the divinity of Christ, or the Trinity, of the redemptive power of Jesus’ death he/she is no longer a Christian at all.

All these memories came back to me when a priest-friend sent me a link to the “Easter” Statement of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, who quite plainly states that it wouldn’t bother her a bit if the tomb with the bones of Jesus were found.

Well, pardon me for being a bit old fashioned and “stuck” in biblical categories, But Rev. Budde, it darn well ought to bother you. And further, even to brook the notion that such a tomb could be found and then add it wouldn’t bother you is a pretty explicit denial of the faith . Here is what the bishop says in her own words, (pardon a few Red remarks from me). These are excerpts, the full remarks of Bishop Budde are here: Bishop Mariann’s blog

To say that resurrection is essential doesn’t mean that if someone were to discover a tomb with Jesus’ remains in it that the entire enterprise would come crashing down. The truth is that we don’t know what happened to Jesus after his death, [But we DO know what happened!] anymore than we can know what will happen to us [Here too I am puzzled, Scripture is actually quite clear as to what will happen after we die: death, judgement, heaven or hell, (likely a pit stop for some purgation for the saved)]. What we do know from the stories handed down is how Jesus’ followers experienced his resurrection. What we know is how we experience resurrection ourselves. [So their “experience wasn’t necessarily real? Then what was it? And if nothing necessarily or actually happened, then how do we “experience” a non-event or a dubious one? What is there to experience?]

That experience is the beginning of faith, not in the sense of intellectual acceptance of an outlandish proposition, but of being touched by something so powerful that it changes you, or so gentle that it gives you courage to persevere when life is crushingly hard…… [Ok, so, the most fundamental Christian dogma, the Resurrection of Jesus, is and “outlandish proposition” which apparently requires no “intellectual acceptance.” Yet despite this, it somehow has the power somehow to change our life. The logic is as mystifying as the denial of the faith is deep].

Well, it doesn’t get much worse than this. In fact, let us call this what it is, a total loss.

For one who denies the Bodily resurrection of Christ (and there is no kind of resurrection other than a bodily resurrection) such a person  really even qualify for the charge of heresy, one has to be a Christian to be a heretic.

Of a great tragic loss of faith like this, St. Paul says,

If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead….And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sins….[and] we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep!  1 Cor 15:12-20

Of the historicity of the Bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ the Catholic Catechism has this to say:

The faith of the first community of believers is based on the witness of concrete men known to the Christians and for the most part still living among them. Peter and the Twelve are the primary “witnesses to his Resurrection”, but they are not the only ones – Paul speaks clearly of more than five hundred persons to whom Jesus appeared on a single occasion and also of James and of all the apostles (1 Cor 15:5).

Given all these testimonies, Christ’s Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact.

It is clear from the facts that the disciples’ faith was drastically put to the test by their master’s Passion and death on the cross, which he had foretold. The shock provoked by the Passion was so great that at least some of the disciples did not at once believe in the news of the Resurrection. Far from showing us a community seized by a mystical exaltation, the Gospels present us with disciples demoralized (“looking sad”) and frightened. For they had not believed the holy women returning from the tomb and had regarded their words as an “idle tale”. When Jesus reveals himself to the Eleven on Easter evening, “he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.”

Even when faced with the reality of the risen Jesus the disciples are still doubtful, so impossible did the thing seem: they thought they were seeing a ghost. “In their joy they were still disbelieving and still wondering.” Thomas will also experience the test of doubt and St. Matthew relates that during the risen Lord’s last appearance in Galilee “some doubted.”

Therefore the hypothesis that the Resurrection was produced by the apostles’ faith (or credulity) will not hold up. On the contrary their faith in the Resurrection was born, under the action of divine grace, from their direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 642-643).

Thanks be to God for the pure water of faith as expressed by Scripture and the Catechism. Indeed, as my convert friend from years ago said, it is such a relief to be in the harbor of truth.

Do pray for the kindly episcopal bishop of Washington. Pray too for good Episcopalians of Washington. May the truth one day reunite us all that there may be according to Christ’s will, one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16).

Careful with the comments. This is a great sadness, a tragedy really. Pray before submitting comments.

Today’s Gospel, indeed, all the gospels of the Easter Octave describe not only an event, but even more so, a journey. For we are tempted to to think that, having seen the risen Lord, the disciples and apostles were immediately confirmed in faith and stripped of all doubt. Now that they saw the Lord they went from zero to 100.

But, this is not the case. Most all the resurrection accounts make it clear that, seeing the risen Lord was mind-blowing, but it was still only a beginning. Like any human experience, no matter how intense, the disciples still needed to process it and come to live its implications in stages.

This pattern of a journey, of a coming to resurrection faith in stages is presented in the resurrection accounts almost in painted form at the beginning. For we notice that the first awareness occur “when it was still dark” and “at the rising of the sun. But as we know, it is not suddenly full light at dawn. Rather the light manifests and grows in stages. And so it is with the resurrection. It begins to “dawn” on the early disciples that He is Risen, truly, he has a appeared to Simon.

But the first reports are murky and there is a lot of running around: Mary Magdalene to Peter and John, Peter and John to the tomb, the women to the rest of the apostles. Yes, there is a lot of running about. It is still dark and the “cobwebs” of recent sleep still assail, and the light is twilight, not noon.

They wonder what does this all mean and how has our life changed?! Answers like this will require a journey and are not to be answered in a mere moment.

In today’s Gospel there is a beautiful line that describes the experience well:

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed (Matt 28:8)

Yes, such a beautiful description: “fearful yet overjoyed,” Amazed and afraid, φόβου καὶ χαρᾶς μεγάλης, (fearful and of great joy). Or to put it in the classic Latin sense, Fascinosum et tremendum (amazed and afraid).

What to make of all this. He is alive! Yet what does this mean?! My life is changed, but how?! One is filled with joy, yet draws back in a kind of reverential fear at the unknown, the unexperienced.

And so we see the women, encountering the Risen Jesus on the road and they are both amazed and afraid. And again, while we might suppose that such an appearance would seal the deal, it is not that simple. Consider the following realities in the aftermath of the resurrection appearances and that a journey of sorts is required to sort it all out.

1. Mary of Magdala doesn’t even recognize Jesus at first, but has to have her eyes adjusted by the faith that comes from hearing, in this case hearing her name “Mary” spoken by Jesus.
2. She also has to make a journey from merely clinging to Jesus as “Rabboni” and running to others to proclaim him by saying, “I have seen The LORD.”
3. The disciples on the Road to Emmaus don’t recognize Jesus at all until their eyes are opened in the Breaking of the Bread.
4. When the Apostles first saw Jesus they drew back and thought they were seeing a ghost. He has to reassure them and clarify things for them.
5. Simon Peter, even after seeing the Lord several times, falls away from his mission and announces to the others, “I am going back to fishing.” And the Lord has to stand in the shore an call him anew from his commercial nets to sacred shepherding of the Petrine Ministry.
6. Even after forty days of of appearances, and having been summoned to the mountain of the ascension, some saw and believed but some doubted.
7. Yet still after the ascension, the day of Pentecost still finds the apostles and disciples, huddled behind closed doors. Only after the coming of the Holy Spirit are they really empowered to go forth.

Yes, there is more to experiencing the resurrection than mere sight. Faith comes by hearing and deepens by experience. They have to make a journey to resurrection life and so do we.

And even for us, who were born in the teaching of the resurrection, the truer and deeper meaning of it all is not simply an answer the Catechism can supply, it is a journey we must make.

As a priest and disciple, I have both observed and experienced that Good Friday is powerful and moving for many people. Most of us know the cross, we have experienced its blows, and its presence is quite real and plain. On Good Friday there are often tears at the Stations, the Trae Horae, the Evening Service of the Lord’s Passion.

But come Easter Sunday morning the experience is less certain. People are joyful, but seem less certain why or how. The Joy of Easter seems more remote than than the brooding presence of Good Friday or the gloomy silence of Holy Saturday. They are unpleasant but familiar. But Easter Sunday is different. What does it mean to rise from the dead? What are we to do in response? In Lent we fasted and undertook focal practices. But Easter is more open and vacuous: JOY! Alleluia! Now what?

It remains for us to lay hold of this new life the Lord is offering to us. It is not enough to think of or see the resurrection as an event of 2000 years again. It IS that, but it is more. It is new life for us. We rise with Christ.

But how and what does this mean. That is the journey. It is the deeper and more personal experience of the historical event the Lord accomplished for us. He has raised us to new life.

In my own journey I have had to move from event, deeper to personal and true experience of that event. I have come to experience the new life Jesus died and rose to give me. I ahve seen sins put death and new graces come alive. I am more chaste, generous, joyful hopeful, serene and and zealous. My mind is clearer, new and I have better priorities and clearer vision. My heart is more spacious and I have learned more deeply of God’s love and mercy for me, and can thus share it more toward others.

Yes, this is the journey to the new life that the Lord died and rise to give me. Good Friday and the Cross are rather plain and obvious to most of us. But Easter Sunday takes more time to lay hold of. It requires a journey where we, like the early disciples go from fear to faith, from darkness to light, from sleepiness of the early morning to the alert faith of mid day.

It is the journey toward a true and lasting Easter. We never cease to be amazed and afraid. But our awe deepens from an bewildered awe of the unknown to a knowing wonder and awe at what the risen Lord is doing in our life. And cringing fear becomes the holier fear of reverence and love.

Easter is an event, but it is also a journey. The twilight of early dawn, gives way in stages to ever brighter awareness as we lay hold of the new Life Christ gives us. There is a beautiful line in the King James Translation that captures Simon Peter’s journey, which at that time was ust beginning:

Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. (Luke 24:12)

Peter now knows, even as he is known, but for you and me, the journey of wonder, awe, and experience continue to unfold. For me, I know more today, than ever before, thank you Lord. But so much more needs to unfold. It will, by God’s grace, and in God’s time.

At the Great Easter Vigil, after a lengthy series of Old Testament readings, The lights come on full, the Gloria is intoned and the opening prayer is sung. Then all are seated for the first reading from the New Testament proclaimed in the new light of Easter glory. It is Romans 6, the opening text from the New Testament proclaimed by the Church as Christ steps forth from the tomb! It would seem the Church considers this an important reading for our consideration, given it’s placement.

Romans 6 is a kind of mini-Gospel where in the fact of our new status as redeemed transformed Children of God is declared. And within these lines is contained “Standing Order # 1” for the Christian who is a new creation: “No longer let sin continue to reign in your death directed bodies.”

Perhaps we can take a look at this central passage from the New Testament. Here it is in total and them some verse by verse commentary:

We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:1-14)

1. THE PRINCIPLE – We have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? – Here is a powerful and uncompromising statement. Paul is setting forth  the most fundamental principle for the Christian life. Namely that sin is not to have any power over us. This is the NORMAL (i.e. normative, to be expected) Christian life, a life that is victorious and that is seeing sin put to death and the blessings of grace come alive. Paul says, quite clearly, we have died to sin.

Before returning to this concept it might be important to consider what the word “sin” means here. The Greek word is ἁμαρτίᾳ (hamartia). In its root sin (ἁμαρτίᾳ) means “missing the mark” or falling short of a designated goal. In the Greek tragedies the hero often had a “fatal flaw” wherein he misses the mark, or fails to obtain what he sought due to a moral failing or error in judgment. In Scripture the word ἁμαρτίᾳ usually means something closer to what we mean by sin today, namely “a moral failing.” But we should not completely leave behind the notion that sin is a missing of the mark. It is not untrue to say that sin is not so much a reality unto itself as it is a “privation,” a lack of something that should be there. In every sin, something is missing that should be there.

Now St. Paul often describes sin (ἁμαρτίᾳ) at two levels: the personal experience with sin, but also as a “climate” in which we live. So we might distinguish between Sin (upper case) and sin (lower case). Hence, Sin is the climate in which we live that is hostile to God, that has values in direct opposition to what God values. It is materialistic, worldly in its preoccupations, carnal and not spiritual, lustful, greedy, self-centered, and alienated from the truth. It will not submit to God and seeks either to deny Him or to marginalize him. This is Sin. (We need to understand this distinction for in verse 10 of this passage Paul says Christ “died to Sin.” But clearly Christ had no personal sin. But he DID live in a world dominated by Sin and it was to THAT which he died).

As for sin (lower case), it is our personal appropriation of Sin. It is our internalization and acceptance of the overall climate of sin. For example, a Bosnian child is not born hating a Croat or Serbian child. That hatred is “in the air” and the child often (usually) internalizes and then acts upon it. Hence Sin becomes sin.

Now Paul says, we have DIED to all of this. That is to say the overall climate of Sin cannot any longer influence us, neither can the deep drives of our own sin continue to affect us.

But how can this be, most of us feel very strongly influenced by Sin and sin? Consider for a moment a corpse. You cannot humiliate or tempt, win an argument with or in anyway personally affect a corpse. The corpse is dead and you and I can no longer have any influence over it. Paul is saying that this is to be the case with us. We are dead to the world and its Sin. It’s influence on us is broken. Because of this, our personal sins and drives of sin are also broken in terms of their influence.

Ah but you say, “This does not seem true.” Nevertheless, it IS the principle of the Christian life. It is what is normative for us and what we should increasingly expect because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is true, death for us is a process, more than an event. But to the degree that the old Adam has been put to death in us, then his vital signs are diminishing. He is assuming room temperature and Christ Jesus is coming alive in us.

And here is the central question Is Jesus becoming more alive in you? It is a remarkable thing how little most Christians expect from their relationship with Jesus Christ. The best that most people hope for is to muddle through this life and just make it (barely) over the finish line to heaven. Mediocrity seems what most people expect. But this is not the normal Christian life! The normal Christian life is to be increasingly victorious over sin, to be experiencing the power of the Lord Jesus Christ at work in our lives. We have died to sin. It’s influence on us is waning, is diminishing. Increasingly the world and its values seem ludicrous to us and God’s vision becomes precious.

So here is the principle – have died and are dying to sin, it is increasingly impossible for us to live in it or experience it’s influence.

2. THE POWER – Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

When Paul (and Scripture) use the word “know” it always means more that grasping something intellectually. To “know” in the Bible means to personally experience something and to have grasped it as true. The GReek verb translated as “know” is γινώσκω (ginosko) we means to know by experience, as contrasted with Greek very οἶδα (oida) where refers to intellectual knowing. Thus, what Paul is really saying here, “Or is it possible that you have not experienced that we died with Christ and risen with him to new life?” In effect he is saying, grab hold of yourself and come to experience that you have died to your old life and now received a completely new life. Start to personally experience this.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation! (2 Cor 5:17). This is the normal Christian life and we ought to be experiencing it more and more.

But here again, we have to fight the sloth of low expectations. Do you think that Jesus Christ died for you so that you would continue to be in bondage to anger, or lust, or hatred? Surely he died to free us from this!

To see your life transformed is NOT your work, it is the work of the Lord Jesus. Since it is his power at work we ought to expect a lot. But low expectations yield poor results. So Paul is saying, come to know, come to personally experience and grasp his power at work in you. Have high expectations! How can we have anything less when the death and resurrection of Jesus are the cause of this?

3. THE PERSONAL WITNESS – For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. –

Once again Paul says we “know” this. This is the normal Christian life: to experience that our old self was crucified and has died and that increasingly we are no longer slaves to sin.

In my own life I have experienced just this. Have you? I have seen many sins and sinful attitudes put to death in me. My mind has become so much clearer in the light of Christian faith and I now see and experience how silly and insubstantial are many claims of this world. So, my mind and my heart are being transformed. I have died to many of my former and negative attitudes and drives.

I’m not what I want to be but I’m not what I used to be, praise God. A wonderful change has come over me.

How about you? Do you have a testimony? Do you “know” (experience) that your old self has been crucified and that you are being freed from sin?

4. THE PROCLAMATION – in various ways then in the verses that follow, Paul sets forth the essential proclamation of the Normal (normative) Christian life:

1. count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
2. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires…..
3. [you] have been brought from death to life….
4. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Some final questions:

• Do you believe this?
• Do you know (experience) this?
• What do you expect from your relationship with Jesus Christ?
• How are you different from some one who lived under the Old Covenant?
• How are you different from the unbelievers in this world?
• Are you living the normal Christian life of dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ, or are you just muddling through?

Icon above is 18th Century Russian, and is available at most Icon Distributor. In this vision, is the Harrowing of Hades where Christ pulls Adam and Even from their tombs and summons them to new life.

This song says, Victory is mine, I told Satan, “Get thee behind” for victory today is mine.