Word of the Week

Easter

Resurrection: Resurrectio (L.): meaning “A rising from the dead”

There are two realities to the Resurrection: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Resurrection of the Dead. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ “is the bodily rising of Jesus from the dead on the third day after his death on the cross and burial in the tomb” (CCC 638). This quintessential truth of our faith is the crowning event to the Paschal Mystery (CCC 638 ). The Resurrection of the Dead is “the raising of the righteous to live with the risen Christ on the last day” (CCC 938). In addition, the Church teaches that our immortal souls and our mortal bodies will come to life again (Rom.8:11) (CCC 990).

The Resurrection, found 44 times in Sacred Scripture, is the locus to understanding the Paschal Mystery and Divine Revelation (1 Cor.15:14). With exception to the Sadducees, the Resurrection was a doctrine accepted and anticipated by the Jewish people (Dan.12:2-3; 2 Mac. 7:9; Hosea 6:2). Jesus ratifies all the hopes of man by proclaiming: “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (Jn.11:25) and “ directs us to the sole fact that Christ possesses absolute sovereignty over life and death which was always believed to be the sole prerogative of Yahweh (1 Sam.2:6; Wis.16:13)” (Hahn and Minch , 41). By way of the Resurrection, we have now received the good news of the inheritance promised of Old (Acts 13:32-33). This new covenant inheritance springs forth life through the grace of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-2:1-47). As the first Vicar writes, “We have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” in God's family (1 Pet.1:3).

The Resurrection is the focal point of everything that is accomplished in the New Covenant Church; for in it we receive the gift of the Spirit to participate in the divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4). Since the body of Christ was made immortal through the Resurrection, it follows that the fruits of the Eucharist will likewise transform our own being into a reality that constantly points to the beatific vision. Herein rests our call to be a Eucharistic people!

“The Resurrection is the starting point that shapes the early legacy of Jesus. It was this that opened up the possibility of his being present beyond limitations of earthly corporeal existence and of sharing himself out.”

--Pope Benedict XVI

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Hahn, Scott and Minch , Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of John, RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco : Ignatius Press, 2003.  

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