1	The Resurrection of Jesus
2	What is Christian Prayer? The Mystics define prayer as: “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” St John Damascene (CCC 2558) “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition of love, embracing both trial and joy.” St. Therese of Lisieux (CCC 2558)
3	What is Christian Prayer? The Catholic Church defines it as: “Great is the mystery of the faith!... This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer.” (CCC 2558)
4	How do we pray? The deepest form of prayer is that of contemplation. Contemplation is when one passively receives the Lord. This is done best through the reception of the Lord through his words in the Scripture. One of the best forms of prayer to do this is:
5	Lectio Divina A form of meditating on and praying with the Word of God. The four stpes of Lectio are: - Lectio - Meditatio - Oratio - Contemplatio
6	Lectio Lectio: To read the Sacred Text using the intellect to seek the objective meaning of the text. -Who are the characters? -What, when, where? -What does it say?
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8	The Truth of the Gospel Dei Verbum The sacred authors “consigned to writing whatever [God] wanted written, and no more.” 11 “we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture, firmly, faithfully and without error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures.” 11 The Gospels “whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation” 19 Benedict XV Spiritus paraclitus 1920 “[D]ivine inspiration extends to all parts of Scripture without distinction, and that no error could occur in the inspired text.”
9	Why do the Gospels differ? Dei Verbum “The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form, others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the Church […] but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus.” 19
10	Why do the Gospels differ? Each of the Gospel writers had their own reasons for writing. Traditionally, they are each given a symbol to represent their style. - Matthew - the man: A symbol of revelation and intelligence, Matthew presents Jesus as the divine teacher. - Mark - the lion: A symbol of power and swiftness, Mark’s Gospel is a powerful, direct, fast-paced account of the ministry of Christ. - Luke - the ox: The beast of burden and for sacrifice, Luke presents Jesus as the one who bears our burdens - John - the eagle: A sign of divinity and contemplation, John shows a deep mystical theology and understanding of Jesus’ divine and human natures.
11	Similarities The four Gospel accounts agree on many aspects of the story: - THE EMPTY TOMB! - Early morning on Sunday (Mw, Mk, L, J) - Mary Magdalene (Mw, Mk, L, J) - Angel/ young man (Mw, Mk, L, J) - Other women, including a Mary (Mw, Mk, L) - Bringing spices (Mk, L) - Command to tell the disciples (Mw, L, J; they do in Mk) - Peter goes to tomb (L, J with John) - Fear (Mt, Mk, L) - Burial cloths (L, J) - Initial disbelief of disciples (Mk, L, with confusion and lack of understanding in J) - Appearance of Jesus to Mary or women (Mw, Mk, J)
12	Harmonies The Catholic Encyclopedia: - The holy women carrying the spices start out for the sepulchre; they are anxious about the heavy stone. - The angel frightened the guards by his brightness, put them to flight, rolled away the stone, and seated himself above the stone. - Mary Magdalen, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome approach the sepulchre, and see the stone rolled back, whereupon Mary Magdalen immediately returns to inform the Apostles. - The other two holy women enter the sepulchre, find an angel seated in the vestibule, who shows them the empty sepulchre, announces the Resurrection, and commissions them to tell the disciples. - A second group of holy women, consisting of Joanna and her companions, arrive at the sepulchre, enter the empty interior, and are admonished by two angels that Jesus has risen.
13	Harmonies The Catholic Encyclopedia con’t: - Not long after, Peter and John, who were notified by Mary Magdalen, arrive at the sepulchre and find the linen cloth. - Mary Magdalen returns to the sepulchre, sees first two angels within, and then Jesus Himself. - The women, who met on their return to the city, see the risen Christ, who commissions them to tell His brethren that they will see him in Galilee. - The holy women relate their experiences to the Apostles, but find no belief.
14	Harmonies St. Augustine: - Mary Magdalen and the other women come to the tomb, find the stone rolled back and, fearing the body of Jesus was taken, immediately return to tell Peter and John. - Peter and John run to the tomb, where they find the cloths laying. They then return to their home, while the women stay at the tomb weeping. - The women see the angel sitting upon the stone, who tells them that Christ is risen. - Mary, still weeping, looks in the tomb, wherein she sees the two angels, or perhaps one angel who is joined by the one on the stone, of John’s narrative who ask her why she is weeping. - The two angels address the women, asking why they seek the living among the dead. The other women leave to tell the apostles what they have seen.
15	Harmonies St. Augustine con’t: - Mary Magdalene remains at the tomb, where she sees the risen Lord, whom she first presumes to be the gardener. - She hurries to the other women to tell them that she saw Jesus. The whole group is then greeted by Jesus as Matthew tells us. - The women hurry to the eleven disciples to tell them what had happened, but the disciples do not understand or believe their story.
16	Lectio Lectio: To read the Sacred Text using the intellect to seek the objective meaning of the text. -Who are the characters? Mary Magdalene, the other women, the Angels, Peter, John, and Jesus. -What, when, and where? At the tomb, early on the morning of the first day of the week. -What does it say? THE LORD IS RISEN!
17	Meditatio Meditatio: To meditate on the Sacred Text using the heart to find what the text is saying to ME. -Assimilation: What it says to me? -“He is risen, Go find him!” Vs -“My guilt at abandoning him at the crucifixion. This drives me to find him.” -“I am forgiven!”
18	Meditatio -Association: Associate the text to my life. -“My worry: the heavy stone, and I am too weak to move it.” -“God removes the Stone- I let God, be God.” -“Look for amazement in mystery!!!”
19	Meditatio -Correlation: Relate to other Texts, Readings, etc. -The book Reed of God by Caryll Houselander: “The wooden manger was the first Cross. The swaddling bands were the first burial bands. The passion has begun.” (p73) - “Sitting with Mary, my mind roles from Jesus’ birth to His death in Mary’s eyes.”
20	Oratio Oratio: To pray with the Sacred Text by engaging in a conversation with God as one uses their soul and body in prayer. -Recognize God’s greatness, ask his mercy, thank him and Trust: “God you gave your son in the silence of the womb. We look for him with fear and joy. Wow, he forgave us on the Cross: where, how, when did he rise? It doesn’t matter. I sit with WHY. I only trust the question because you, Jesus, are in the question. I love the question, the mystery….”
21	Contemplatio Contemplatio: We surrender ourselves to the Lord as he talks to us through the Sacred Text. -Contemplate the mystery, love his love, open the gifts and be healed: “Imagine the tomb, the silence, the intimacy of Father and Son. His boy broken and battered. Jesus in the tomb reaches for his Daddy, Pappa…Abba! They commune, and in that communion I commune with them. Their rhythm in the tomb is silent, healing, beautiful…” Finish: We praise God in awe and thanks! “I sit in thanks and love”