Corpus Christi Blog

Last week we celebrated the Ascension of Christ, when He entered the heavenly sanctuary as the high priest to sit at the right hand of the Father, offering Himself as a perpetual sacrifice in atonement for our sins. This week, we celebrate Pentecost, which could only occur after the Ascension, so we’ll examine how they are related.

When Jesus took His seat upon His heavenly throne, it was the final act of the Paschal Mystery. It brought God’s whole plan of salvation to its completion or – more accurately – to its fullness. Everything that God had promised, beginning in the Garden of Eden where He promised a remedy to sin (Gen 3:15), through the Old Testament fathers and prophets, and then ultimately in the Incarnation of His Word, was finally fulfilled with the Ascension. Being seated on His throne is the completion of Jesus’ earthly mission and He will not leave His throne until the end of time. It is from the throne that a king is able to give his subjects gifts. Jesus had surely given gifts to the people all along, but those gifts were not given in their fullness because Jesus’ mission had not yet reached its fullness. Let’s look to scripture to see how this unfolds.

It has been six weeks since we celebrated the glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter. It was a glorious day, indeed, when the disciples came to the realization that the man they had put all of their hope in was, in fact, alive again, having “rebuilt the temple in three days” as He had promised (John 2:19). However, Jesus’ work did not end with the Resurrection. There was still more to come.

Have you ever wondered how our Bible originated? Who determined which books would be contained in the Bible and how do we know they’re correct? We ought to be reading from scripture every day, but at minimum, we hear the Word of God spoken at every Sunday Mass in the form of readings, psalms, and liturgical prayer. We rightfully trust that this book we hold in our hands is exactly as it should be because our Church has said that it is so. How did our Church come to this conclusion, though? Let’s examine the history and development of the canon of books contained in our Sacred Scripture.

I will end the three-part series on the afterlife this week with the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, which offers us such a great gift of hope, provided it is properly understood. Purgatory is a teaching that is unique to the Catholic faith alone. The Catholic Church is sometimes accused of making the doctrine up in the Middle Ages in order to justify the buying and selling of indulgences, but there is no truth to that argument. (You can find my article on indulgences by doing a keyword search on my website.) Some have also claimed that there is no scriptural basis for the doctrine of Purgatory. I hope to clear up some of the confusion, provide some support for the doctrine, and illustrate what a great gift it is. *Note: You may want to read this article with your Bible, as I cite too many Scripture verses to quote them all.*

This is part two of a three-part series on the afterlife. Last week, we started with Hell in order to get it out of the way so we can focus on more hopeful topics. Although we can never fully know what Heaven is like until we get there, there are things that we can know: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him,” (1 Cor 2:9).

Let’s first see how the Catholic Church defines the basics of Heaven.

This article is the first in a three-part series on the afterlife – Hell, Heaven, and Purgatory. I am intentionally beginning with Hell in order to facilitate a trajectory of hope, rather than despair, through this series. So, with this being the least hopeful portion, please keep in mind that there is more to come.

Let’s start with a very brief catechesis on judgement. The Catholic Church distinguishes between the particular judgement and the final or last judgement. “The Last Judgement will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming,” (CCC #1040). When this time comes, all things on earth will come to light.

Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. This feast and devotion was given to us by Jesus Himself through St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, better known as simply St. Faustina. I would like to spend some time explaining this beautiful Catholic devotion.

I will not go into an in-depth biography of St. Faustina’s life, but briefly, she was the third of ten children born to a poor peasant family and given the name Helen in Glogowiec, Poland on August 25, 1905. Even as a child, she exhibited piety, obedience, gentleness, and great devotion to prayer. She felt called to religious life, but her parents were adamantly opposed, so she took on work as a housekeeper to help support her family. Eventually, however, she was able to join the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy on August 1, 1925, where she took the name Sister Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. During her time in religious life, Faustina received many visions and communications directly from Jesus and enjoyed a very close relationship with Him. She was also given many sufferings, both physical and spiritual to serve as atonement for all of the sinners of the world because, as we know, with great love comes great suffering and she deeply loved Jesus.

A blessed Easter to all, the holiest of days in the entire liturgical calendar. We spent our journey through Lent reflecting on the Stations of the Cross, where we meditated on the tremendous sufferings Jesus endured for us on His ascent to Calvary and His ultimate crucifixion. We then reflected on Palm Sunday and the jubilant celebration in the streets of Jerusalem because the promised Messiah had finally arrived. Imagine the confusion, as well as the emotional and spiritual suffering, all the people experienced – going from the highest of highs on Palm Sunday, to the lowest of lows on Good Friday. Not one of them could have anticipated the cruel execution of their Savior and so they spent three days in darkness, not understanding what had happened or what would come next. Then, on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and gave new meaning to the word hope!

Today is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. It signifies the day Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem and begins the series of events that mark His final days of life on earth. Palm Sunday itself carries with it much scriptural importance, which we will examine now.

Beginning in the Old Testament, we look to the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel was prophesying the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem because the corruption that was occurring within it was very offensive to God. He describes the “vile abominations” (Ez 8:9) occurring within the walls and the “creeping things and loathsome beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel” (Ez 8:10) that are being brought inside. Ezekiel further describes men turning their backs to the temple and its altar to worship the sun in the East (Ez 8:16). Needless to say, the things going on in the temple of the Almighty God were not good and God was not happy about it.

Jesus has finally completed His torturous journey from Pontius Pilate’s praetorium to His destination at the top of Calvary. No human being could have survived this journey and it was only by virtue of His divine nature that He was able to do so. Now we will reflect on the last four stations that mark His final sacrifice for us.

Last week we meditated on the fourth, fifth, and sixth Stations of the Cross. In each of those stations, Jesus had personal encounters with other individuals while in a vulnerable state. These showed us how intimate interactions between humans help us all on our own journeys. This week, we’ll look at the next four stations. While three of them involve Jesus alone, one illustrates yet another exchange with others.

This week, we will continue our Lenten journey by reflecting on the fourth, fifth, and sixth Stations of the Cross. Each of these three stations include an encounter between Jesus and another person when Jesus is profoundly vulnerable, thereby increasing the relational intimacy between them. They also illustrate the larger picture of the interdependence human beings have with each other as we all navigate through the trials of life together. Let’s take a closer look.

The Fourth Station: Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

This is one of the stations that is not explicitly found in Scripture. However, the Gospel of John places the Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion, so it is safe to assume she remained as close to Jesus as the crowds would allow from the beginning of His Passion to the end. Additionally, it is difficult to imagine any mother not being with her child while enduring such great and unjust suffering.

Last week I gave an overview on the history and purpose of meditating on the Way of the Cross. Over the next few weeks, we will enter into a deeper reflection on each station. Today, we’ll cover the first three.

The First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death

The Way of the Cross begins when Jesus was sentenced to death in Pontius Pilate’s praetorium. The prior evening, just after having supper with His friends, Jesus was arrested in the dark of night and shuffled back and forth between Pontius Pilate and Herod as they tried to decide what to do with Him. There was an angry mob crying for Him to receive the death penalty, despite the fact that He committed no real crime. Jesus was fully divine, but He was also fully human and experienced the same emotions that any of us would experience in a situation such as this.