 |
| Life Symbols |
In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter speaks the Kerygma or initial and essential first teaching of Christian belief to Cornellius, a Roman army officer.
* [10:36–43] These words are more directed to Luke’s Christian readers than to the household of Cornelius, as indicated by the opening words, “You know.” They trace the continuity between the preaching and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth and the proclamation of Jesus by the early community. The emphasis on this divinely ordained continuity (Acts 10:41) is meant to assure Luke’s readers of the fidelity of Christian tradition to the words and deeds of Jesus.In the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul exhorts us to cast out the yeast of corruption.
* [5:7–8] In the Jewish calendar, Passover was followed immediately by the festival of Unleavened Bread. In preparation for this feast all traces of old bread were removed from the house, and during the festival only unleavened bread was eaten. The sequence of these two feasts provides Paul with an image of Christian existence: Christ’s death (the true Passover celebration) is followed by the life of the Christian community, marked by newness, purity, and integrity (a perpetual feast of unleavened bread). Paul may have been writing around Passover time (cf. 1 Cor 16:5); this is a little Easter homily, the earliest in Christian literature.John J Parsons, writing on the website Hebrew for Christians connects Yeshua and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He offers three examples of the symbol of leaven for Christians; the evil within us, the leaven of affliction connecting us to Jesus and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, and the leaven of the spread of the Kingdom of God in the earth, (Luke 13.20-21).
Julie Kalkowski comments on our role as leaven to spread the Kingdom of God. She hopes that maybe this generation will get it right.
 |
| Easter Bread |
They will throw out the old “yeast of malice and wickedness,” and replace it with the new yeast “of sincerity and truth.”
As Easter people we are called to be the yeast that can help others rise. Not an easy or clear-cut task … but our world badly needs the hope that Easter brings. So, bring in the new yeast and maybe by remembering we are all God’s children, we will be able to help our broken brothers and sisters who have given up hope. Now that would be another Easter miracle!The traditional Easter Bread of Lebanon, Qurban, has roots in the Greek-Catholic church in Lebanon.
According to Chef Ramzi, this holy bread recipe is from the Greek-Catholic church in Lebanon. It represents the body of Christ and is distributed at church, sold in stores and bakeries; traditionally it was made at home on certain occasions and given to the priest to bless, keep some and give out the rest.The Pane di Pasqua is a symbolic Italian Easter bread.
It is no surprise that bread has incredible significance around many cultures’ Easter tables. Just as bread for centuries has been the prime source of bodily sustenance for daily life, Christ, whose resurrection Christians celebrate on Easter, is considered “the bread of life,” (John 6:35), in whom believers will find their daily, spiritual sustenance. This Italian Easter bread is braided with eggs, which also hold incredible Easter significance as signs from nature of new life, just as we are celebrating new life in the risen Christ.On April 1, this article on Becoming a Fool for Christ by Daniel P. Horan, OFM, points to the the Life of Francis of Assisi and the challenge that Paul addresses with the Jews and the Greeks over Jesus Life, Death and Resurrection. (1 Corinthians 1:23)
This sense of Christian foolishness was a truth that St. Paul recognized early in his ministry to first-century Gentiles, who could not easily reconcile the God of Jesus Christ with the Hellenistic worldview they otherwise held (1 Corinthians 1:23).The Gospel of John represents the ascension to the Father to be glorified as taking place with the resurrection as one action.
* [20:17] Stop holding on to me: see Mt 28:9, where the women take hold of his feet. I have not yet ascended: for John and many of the New Testament writers, the ascension in the theological sense of going to the Father to be glorified took place with the resurrection as one action. This scene in John dramatizes such an understanding, for by Easter night Jesus is glorified and can give the Spirit. Therefore his ascension takes place immediately after he has talked to Mary.Friar Jude Winkler fleshes out the speech of Peter taking note of the kerygma or first preaching with very Jewish elements and Jesus eating meals in a glorified body. The interplay of love and authority in the relationships of the beloved disciple and Peter in the Gospel indicate essential revelation in Love.
 |
| Easter Sunrise |
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, notes that many do believe in the bodily resurrection, as he does, but, in a way, that asks little except a mere intellectual assertion of a religious doctrine. Fr. Richard asserts that we can go much further than that. He chooses to believe in some kind of bodily resurrection because it localizes the Christ mystery in this material and earthly world and in our own bodies, the only world we know and the world that God created and loves.
That Jesus’ physical wounds do not disappear is telling. The mystical, counterintuitive message of death and resurrection is powerfully communicated through symbol. The major point is that Jesus has not left the human sphere; he is revealing the goal, the fullness, and the purpose of humanity itself, which is “that we are able to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), even in this wounded and wounding world. Yes, resurrection is saying something about Jesus, but it is also saying a lot about us, which is even harder to believe. It is saying that we also are larger than life, Being Itself, and therefore made for something good, united, and beautiful. Our code word for that is heaven.Love, leaven, bread for the Body, and fools for Christ are some of the powerful symbols that communicate the message of death and resurrection at Easter.
No comments:
Post a Comment