“New Life”

By

Robert John Colon

New life – is that not what the Resurrection is about? The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the Resurrection of Christ was not a return to temporal life (1). In His risen body He does pass from the state of expiration to another life beyond space and time (2). At His Resurrection His body is contained with the power of the Holy Spirit: He does share the divine life in His glorious state (3).  

What are the results of the Resurrection of Christ concerning us? The Catechism of the Catholic Church says by His Resurrection, He uncloses for us the way to a life that is new (4). The Catechism says this life that is new is above all justification that does reinstate us in God’s grace (5). Moreover, God, in His omnipotent power, shall definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting our bodies with our souls, through the power of the Resurrection of Christ (6).

Christ shall raise us up on the final day; but it’s also true that, in a certain fashion, we have already risen with Him (7). The Catechism says united with Jesus by Baptism, believers already truly partake in the ethereal life of the risen Christ (8). 

Many times Christian life might appear as only a participation in Christ’s death. The Catechism says Christian life is a participation in Christ’s death (9). Really, aren’t we called to a death which, we might say, consists of one losing one’s “I”, one’s ego? But doesn’t this concern resurrection? We might understand how this death perhaps concerns resurrection if we know what death means.

We might think death means “life’s end”. Jesus did come so that man might have life and have life abundantly (cf. John 10: 10) (10). Christ does know the human creature in his depths and knows that, so as to attain life, he need go through a “passage” (11), which we might say is a death that is not “only an end” and that allows us to enter life.

We might say: my goal should be to have my “I” taken away from me and embodied into a greater and new subject, in whom it does acquire its new extent of existence (12). Doesn’t our “I” experience this at Baptism (13)? A Homily of Pope Benedict XVI says Baptism is indeed death and resurrection (14). In life, doesn’t my “I” need to be liberated from its isolation (15)? We might call this “death”. In life, don’t I need to, so to speak, enter into Christ with all my own self (16)? We might say: this entering into Christ is resurrection, the resurgence of my “I”, because my “I” is now being embodied into Christ. We might say: when my “I” has been embodied into Christ, my “I”, which was taken away from me, is back, but in a new way (17).

Abandoning ourselves and drawing near to Christ might seem to be the way to attain unhappiness, even though Christ, a Homily of Pope Benedict XVI said, takes nothing away and does give everything (18). How can we draw near to Christ when we have temptations that seem to seize us? Pope John Paul II said faith instructs us that even in the most arduous and harsh trials God never leaves us (19). For our part, let us stay united to Him by hearing His Word and actively sharing in the Eucharistic Feast (20). If we turn away from God, let us return to Him, trusting in that mercy that is called “divine”. We can see in Divine Mercy the fount of that true peace that the risen Christ does offer us (21).

May Mary Most Holy assist us to make the new life of her Son our own, by acceptance of the gift of divine mercy which enables you and me to be craftsmen of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace (22).

First completed on April 11, 2007.

NOTES

(1) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 646.

(2) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 646.

(3) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 646.

(4) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 654.

(5) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 654. Cf. Romans 4: 25, which is pointed to in note or footnote 525 which relates to number 654 of the Catechism.

(6) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 997.

(7) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 1002.

(8) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 1003. Cf. Philippians 3: 20, which is pointed to in note or footnote 558 which relates to number 1003 of the Catechism.

(9) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 1002.

(10) Cf. John Paul II, Angelus, 4 March 2001, number 2.

(11) Cf. John Paul II, Angelus, 4 March 2001, number 2.

(12) Cf. Benedict XVI, Homily, April 15, 2006.

(13) Cf. Benedict XVI, Homily, April 15, 2006.

(14) Cf. Benedict XVI, Homily, April 15, 2006.

(15) Cf. Benedict XVI, Homily, April 15, 2006.

(16) Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, number 10.

(17) Cf. Benedict XVI, Homily, April 15, 2006.

(18) Cf. Benedict XVI, Homily, 24 April 2005.

(19) Cf. John Paul II, Angelus, 2 January 2005, number 2.

(20) Cf. John Paul II, General Audience, 30 March 2005.

(21) Cf. John Paul II, Regina Caeli, 7 April 2002, number 3.

(22) Cf.  Pope John Paul II, ‘Regina Caeli’, 6 April 1997, number 3.