Communion of Saints

In the Apostles Creed, as we profess our faith, and the beliefs that are central to our faith, we say we believe in the Communion of Saints. What is it that we believe when we say, "... I believe in the Communion of Saints." 

First, look at the word "communion". The dictionary defines the word as 

• a sharing in
• belonging to
• participation in an intimate relationship with others

Now imagine this scene, you are walking down the street, you turn and enter a walkway leading to the front door of a beautiful family home, into which you freely enter, to participate in all the benefits of that family's life, because it's your family, your home; you belong, sharing in communion with the others of your family. Other people must walk on by, because it is not their home, they do not belong, they are strangers and do not have communion with your family.

In the picture above, on the left side, there is group of this world's people, among which we might easily include ourselves. Like all people, we are striving to live our lives as we move along the street called time. Now the question to ask, do you have a home to which you are going, a family with which you share life, loving relationships in which you share an intimate communion? Is there a door which is open to you, through which you freely enter because you belong?

On the right of the image above, through an open door, is the family of the Communion of Saints. They are those who heard the invitation, given by Jesus, to come and join his family, to belong and have communion with him; to follow in his steps, truly and faithfully, as he brings them home to the Father's house - the home prepared for the Communion of Saints, safe and secure forever.

There is so much to discover about this idea of Communion. For instance, there is the difference between being a practitioner of religion and belonging to the "communion of the faithful". In John's gospel account, we see Jesus saying: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

There is a real difference between the "practice of religion", and "a living faith". The next few posts in Voices, will explore the significance of this difference. 

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In 2013, Voices had a series devoted to, "The Baptism In the Holy Spirit". You might wish to visit those posts at this time as well. The links are found in the side panel of the page. They begin with this post: Baptism in the Holy Spirit - One. 

Divine Mercy Sunday

Second Sunday of Easter

Divine Mercy Sunday

Why Catholics Celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday

By Rev. Alfred McBride, O.Praem.

On the Second Sunday of Easter of the Jubilee Year 2000, at the Mass for the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II proclaimed to the world that “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” … link to the article

The Quality of Mercy ... an article by Gerard O'Connell

Second Sunday of Easter ... a homily by Fr. Robert Barron 

Conversations of the Merciful God With a Sinful Soul ... Divine Mercy Notebook V

Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song - Video and sung prayer

Texts from the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Easter

Collect

God of everlasting mercy,
who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast
kindle the faith of the people you have made your own,
increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed,
that all may grasp and rightly understand
in what font they have been washed,
by whose Spirit they have been reborn,
by whose Blood they have been redeemed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Prayer after Communion

Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that our reception of this paschal Sacrament

may have a continuing effect

in our minds and hearts.

Through Christ our Lord

Pope John Paul II with Mehmet Ali Ağca, 1983,

forgiving his attempted assassin

Voices of Easter - Three

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The Mystery of Easter

A mystery is something that we see, but not all of it. It is like a closed door. You see the door, you approach the door, but what is behind the door, to where it leads, remains hidden until you open it and enter into it. The tomb of Jesus, his burial place was not a mystery to Jesus disciples, at least at first. They know where is was; they had been in it to place within it the dead body of Jesus, covered with a shroud; they closed it shut with a large, rolling stone door. 

But when they returned to the grave site on Easter day, they could see:

• the grave was where they knew it to be,
• the stone door was there, but rolled away,
• the shroud and head-covering were there,
• the body of Jesus could not be seen.

They were now entering the Mystery of Easter

• the dead body of Jesus was missing,
• was it removed by someone, by whom, to where?
• Jesus was there, but not as a dead body, he was alive
• he was alive and present, but not as before, he was radically transformed,
• his existence is no longer subject to the laws of nature, as we know them,

• his real presence could been seen or not seen, by some or all
• recognized and not recognizable as Jesus
• he could be there and then not there
• his voice could be heard
• his body could be touched and held
• yet it was not subject to the laws of nature as they are known
• he was not subject to space and time as we understand it
• his burial cloth held an image - how was it imprinted

Clearly, a new order of existence is being revealed. We have entered the mystery of something new. It comes to us

• by eye witnesses
• by the Shroud
• by an act of grace where given

This Act of Grace was experienced by St. Paul, and many others down through the ages. This same Act of Grace, with its new laws of being, is still at work today. "For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened". Lk. 11:10

Voices of Easter - Two

+ Voices of Easter - TWO +

+ Daily Mass Readings +

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

So she ran and went to Simon Peter

and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,

“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,

and we don’t know where they put him.”

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter

and arrived at the tomb first;

he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head,

not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first,

and he saw and believed.

For they did not yet understand the Scripture

that he had to rise from the dead. Jn 20:1-9

Points For Reflection and Prayer

• In the spirit of the Ignatius approach to contemplation - imagine you are rushing along with these two.
• How far is it - Does Peter seem winded?
• The other disciple is getting ahead - which one are you nearest to?
• What are they saying to each other? Do they think Jesus' body is going to be desecrated to mock him in death?
• Notice the reference to the Shroud and the Sudarium, (the cloth that covered Jesus face when he was taken down from the cross) Who would have gathered them up and taken them?
• What do you think is happening to Peter as he emerges from the empty tomb?
• Notice this account of the other disciple ... "he saw and believed."
• Is he the first to grasp what Jesus meant when he said, "... and on the third day he will rise again?" (Mtt:17:23)
• What is your conviction regarding Jesus resurrection?
• Do you think you may have encounter Jesus some where, some time? (remember Mary Madeline did not recognize him at first)