Praying For A 'little Easter' Every Sunday
God created us in his image and by his grace we can be his ambassadors. This is not a secret; he shows us daily how much he loves and needs us. His undisclosed plan for us may come in unexpected moments, but rest assured; God is directing us!
Jesus spoke to us in parables and the imagery of God’s love and mercy is shared perfectly during the Lenten Season. We walk through the mystery of salvation fulfilled by the death and resurrection of Christ on the Cross, which brings to us the Eucharistic sacrifice. This is called the paschal mystery, the passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus; relating to Passover and Easter, it is our redemption and the history of our salvation. “Christ our Passover has been crucified.” (1 Cor. 5: 7)
We must put Easter, its sacraments and its rites more clearly at the center of the divine plan for our own salvation. The Eucharist is the sacrament of the passion of Christ, where we are joined together in union with Christ’s suffering every time we go to Mass.
Think of it this way: every weekend can be a paschal mystery experience. Each Friday begins a mini-Lenten observance, in preparation for Sunday Mass, a little Easter celebration.
There is much to celebrate in the Church. The cardinals began their conclave to elect a new Pope on Tuesday. In the past 100 years, a conclave has never lasted longer than five days, so by the time this is printed, we may already have our new Pope elected. It is wonderful to witness this history-making event. The present day cardinals continue a long line of ambassadors for Christ. The Apostolic Fathers of the first century, where the Church’s history begins with St. Peter, chosen by Christ over 2,000 years ago, continues today.
The first recorded information about a Bishop of Rome comes from St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons. He confirms that St. Clement, the fourth Bishop of Rome and the third successor of St. Peter “had seen the Blessed Apostles and had been in conversation with them.” Various writings were attributed to Pope Clement, but his Letter to the Corinthians, which he wrote in the name of the Church to the Church of Corinth, was most noted. This letter is said to be the first exercise of the Roman primacy after St. Peter’s death. Clement’s lengthy letter touches on topics that were dear to St. Paul, who had written letters to the Corinthians about salvation and moral commitment.
Pope Clement revealed his ideal Church in his writing, “She was assembled by the one Spirit of grace poured out upon us which breathes on the various members of the Body of Christ, where all, united without any divisions, are members of one another,” he wrote in the letter. He makes it clear that there is no opposition between “lay person” and the hierarchy, but only a connection of a body with different functions. He stated, “The Church is not a place of confusion or anarchy where one does what one wants all the time, but with structure, exercises his ministry in accordance with the vocation he has received.”
Clement clearly explains the doctrine of Apostolic Succession, and that the norms that regulate it derive from God himself. St. Clement underlined that the Church’s structure was sacramental and not political. “The action of God who comes to meet us in the liturgy precedes our decisions and our ideas,” he wrote. “The Church is above all a gift of God and not something we ourselves created; consequently, this sacramental structure does not only guarantee the common order, but also this precedence of God’s gift which we all need.”
St. Clement’s themes are of perennial timeliness and comforting, because they have been successfully passed on to us over a period of 2,000 years by the grace of God. As an ambassador for Christ, pray unceasingly for a little Easter every day and rest assured; God is directing us. Amen!
