There is no religion quite like Christianity. We believe that God the Father sent us his only Son, like us in all things but sin, in order to suffer, die, and rise from the dead to save us from sin, which is to save us from ourselves, by bringing us back into relationship with Him. Are relationships scary? Sure, they can be, especially if you’ve been hurt before by people who were supposed to love you, or by people who do love you, but not perfectly. But look at the person of Jesus Christ. He knows all about being betrayed, denied, mocked, scorned, abused, and abandoned. How did he treat the one who denied him three times after his Resurrection? He forgave him. How did he treat St. Paul when he met him on the road to Damascus? He transformed him. And so how is it that the Risen Lord wants to be in relationship with us? In the same way that he was in relationship with all his friends that he loved in the Gospels. He’s not a threat. He didn’t rise to hurt us. He didn’t rise to take revenge. He rose to recreate us, to heal us, to enter into relationship with us, to restore our relationship with the Father. And he does all this through his very person, and it’s that same person we encounter every time we celebrate the sacraments and pray with the Word.
--Fr. Damian Ference
Image source: Life of St Paul, detail, St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Paulsgrove, UK, created by Sunrise Stained Glass Studio, https://stainedglassartist.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/st-paul-stained-glass-window/
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