Hope you had a Blessed Fourth Sunday of Easter!!
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday. ✝️ 🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
Superheroes are a huge part of American culture. In recent years, blockbusters like The Avengers franchise and Superman v. Batman along with television shows such as The Flash headline our entertainment. I am a huge fan of the Flash! I love his panoply of abilities: super speed, phasing, and time travel. However, at the end of the day, these characters are still human–just with amplified powers. Each Easter season I ponder the mystery of the Resurrected body of Jesus. Nearly every Sunday during Easter, the Gospel reading talks about the Apostles’ encounter with the Resurrected Lord!
Please do not misinterpret this post’s title. I am not trying to equate the resurrected body with a superhero from a comic book. What I want to reflect on today is what exactly we can deduce are the qualities of the resurrected body as evidenced in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition (ex: Thomas Aquinas).
Here are four properties of the Resurrected body as outlined by Saint Thomas Aquinas in Summa Contra Gentiles IV, 86 and supported by Scripture:
Saint Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:42, ” So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.” St. Thomas builds on this to mean that the resurrected body is not subject to deterioration from disease and death.
St. Thomas uses the term subtlety which refers to the ability to pass through material objects. While still being material, the resurrected body is able to pass or phrase through things. The prime example is Jesus passing through the closed and locked doors in John 20:19.
We get a hint at this ability through Jesus’ miracle of walking on the water [this is pure speculation– his movement was so quick he was able to move across water with ease]. One of the more famous post-resurrection appearances of agility is when Jesus leaves suddenly in the Emmaus episode in Luke 24:13-35.
According to Thomas Aquinas, “The bodies of all men alike will be organized as befits the soul, so that the soul shall be an imperishable form giving imperishable being to the body, because to this effect the power of God will entirely subject the matter of the human body to the human soul” (Summa Contra Gentiles IV, 86). He also cites Matthew 13:43 which states the just will shine brilliantly in the kingdom of God. Because this quality of the resurrected body is the vaguest for me, I am not going to deviate from Thomas Aquinas’ words. I encourage you to read more about this quality in Summa Contra Gentiles.
There is so much more to ponder when it comes to the nature and qualities of the resurrected bodies of both Christ and the saints. However, I will want to wrap up this post before I get too speculative in my theology. To be honest this past year, I have become enamored with superheroes of all sorts—in particular DC Comics’ The Flash. I often joke with my wife how cool it would be to acquire the power of the Speed Force and don the mantel of the Scarlet Speedster!
On a more serious note, I want to make sure that I am clear on this point, I am NOT equating the Resurrected Lord with the powers and abilities of superheroes such as Superman or The Flash—that would falter close to the heresy of Arianism. What I want to stress is that there is something mysterious and attractive about the resurrection of the body. Christians proclaim this belief each week in the Nicene Creed.
It is important to realize that we follow God’s commandments and promote charity to our neighbor. We follow God’s tenets not because of the promise of the resurrection. Instead, it is due to our love for God. It is neat to think about the powers and abilities of the resurrected body. Until then I will ask for God’s grace through prayer and the sacraments to increase my love of the Holy Trinity and people I encounter on a daily basis. True heroism occurs in acts of love and virtue! Be a hero today.
Hope you had a Blessed Third Sunday of Easter!!
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday. ✝️ 🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
Editor’s Note: Originally published April 18th, 2017.
Love is an open door.
Christianity across the world celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ this past Sunday. Easter is a celebration of a miraculous—and seemingly impossible—event. The feast of Jesus’ Resurrection holds a special place in my heart. I wish to share the basic biblical proof of the Resurrection, examples from some saints, and my own personal experience.
Note: If you still have questions related to a more cerebral and logical argument for the Resurrection of Jesus I highly recommend Carl Olson’s: Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?
Since there a lot of evidence to refer to and I prefer to keep today’s post as concise as possible I will only focus on the two strongest pieces of evidence I found to be convincing for me in showing validity in Jesus’ Resurrection. First, the witness of the women being the initial people to notice the empty tomb is strong evidence. The reason for this is due to in 1st century Palestine life women did not enjoy the benefits of voting, membership in the workforce, or even respect to be witnesses in events like today.
The Gospel writers uniformly state that women were the first witnesses to the empty tomb and the first to proclaim Jesus as risen. This does not make sense unless it was true. Why would the gospel writers embarrass the apostles by placing women in a place of honor as the first evangelizers of Jesus’ Resurrection, unless that was the truth?
Saint Mary Magdalene is known as the Apostle to the Apostles.
Secondly, the Gospel of Matthew already shows alternative explanations already surfacing to explain the disappearance of Jesus’ body when the tomb was opened. According to Matthew, the priests and elders charged the Roman soldiers to create a story to explain why the tomb was empty. They [priests and elders] state, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were asleep’. If any word of this gets to the procurator, we will straighten it out with him and keep you out of trouble.” (Matthew 28:13-14). This never made sense to me. If the apostles were fraudulent, why the Matthew plainly write about the theory of the stolen body of Jesus? Such a theory only makes sense as a lie developed by the priests and elders.
Because of the vast array of saints to attest to the truth of the Resurrection, I will only focus on two for conciseness’ sake—St. Peter and St. Paul. The thing that I really love about St. Peter is his fervor to follow the gospel after Jesus’ Resurrection. In addition to being the 1st pope of the Catholic Church, Peter testified to the truth of the Gospel as a martyr via crucifixion.
St. Paul represents arguably the greatest conversion in the history of Christianity. Paul went from being a murderer of Christians to the Church’s great evangelizer and writer of almost 2/3 of the New Testament. These two men show us that they encountered someone who transformed them. Peter and Paul’s conversions are an effect of the power of Jesus’ Resurrection!
While my own testimony does not hold the same weight at Scripture and Tradition, I still am convinced that certain things in my life transpired due to a power outside of my control and full understanding. During my darkest days a few years ago I learned of the power of God. He rose me up from the loss of a job and our miscarriages. God continues to demonstrate the glory of His Resurrected Son in seemingly ordinary things too. For example, I asked my cousin to pray for my wife for an important interview. My cousin told me, “Of course, and incidentally she [my wife] was the person my cousin and his fiancée scheduled to pray for, in a special way, anyways.” This is not the first time this seeming coincidence happened to my cousin.
Through Scripture, Tradition [the saints], and my personal experience with daily and extraordinary events I have come to more deeply realize the Resurrection of Jesus as an historical fact. I pray that you come to enjoy this truth in Scripture, Tradition, and your own life’s experiences!
Evidence for the Resurrection- Catholic Digest
Resurrection- Catholic Answers
Editor’s Note: Post originally published May 9th, 2017.
Whenever someone utters the words “breakfast” and “Sunday mornings” together, I immediately picture sizzling bacon, fresh orange juice, crisp toast covered in butter or jelly, and chocolate covered, glazed, or cake donuts. Besides the old adage that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, the reason I bring this topic up is because I was reading through John’s Gospel and I came across a peculiar event that I never truly paid attention to—Jesus grilling!
According to John 21:1-14, Jesus appeared to the apostles at the Sea of Tiberias and he is watching them fish. Whether the fourth gospel writer intended to or not I think it is interesting that the miracle of the great catch of fish mirrors a similar miraculous haul in Luke 5:1-11. In John’s version, Peter and the other disciples do not initially recognize Jesus, while in Luke’s account, Jesus had already chosen the apostles.
I believe Jesus’ post-Resurrection miracle in John is a perfected version of the Lucan fish phenomenon because according to Luke 5:6 the apostles nets started to tear in contrast to John 21:11 which states, “So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.”
Upon the apostles arrival at the shore, Jesus says, “Come, have breakfast (John 21:12). With these words the apostles recognized the identity of Jesus. Along with the fish, Jesus took the bread and gave it to them as well. Together with the Emmaus episode in Luke 24:13-35 the taking of bread is a sign of the celebration of the Eucharist!
Upon rereading the previous verses about the 153 fish caught, I discovered that this number represents the apostles’ universal mission, according to commentary. St. Jerome claimed that Greek zoologists catalogued 153 species of fish, and John uses fish to symbolize men. This realization highlights our calling to bring lapsed Catholics and non-Catholics to Christ. The apostles’ catch of 153 fish represents bringing all types of men to Jesus. We can only partake of the Eucharistic food after we reconcile with the rest of humanity. Like the apostles we’re invited to a morning meal (in the form of the Mass) with Jesus after their symbolic haul of humanity.
God appears to us in peculiar ways so the next time I am eating breakfast on Sunday morning, maybe I will suggest grilled fish to my wife [we recently bought an outdoor grill]! Be always open to God’s plan no matter how fishy it sounds…or smells.
I was excited to witness this rare celestial event. A solar eclipse. Moon blocking the sun. But God had other plans for me.
It was nearing 12:43pm. I had a work meeting at 1pm but I got there way early so I wouldn’t miss the eclipse. As I continued down the road the sky remained cloudy.
There wasn’t any sunlight to be seen. I resigned myself that I would miss out on seeing this awesome event. And it turned out to be the case. The eclipse occurred and from my vantagepoint it was another day. A mundane, cloudy one at that.
As I reflected on missing out on the solar event I realized that God is still in control. He is King of the Universe. He can control when solar eclipses happen and when people can see them (or can’t see them). It may have seemed like another boring day and that is how our spiritual life is like.
The 2024 Solar Eclipse. On the Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord. It had the perfect story. And for many people in the path of totality they had the blessings to seeing this amazing scene. But oftentimes God shows up in the mundane. In the uneventful and ordinary affairs of life.
While Easter celebrates the profound event of the Resurrection, Jesus worked humbly for years in the quiet and ordinary. Today is an amazing day whether you saw the eclipse or not.
God has a plan for you (even if you don’t feel or know fully about it now). Comment “Cloudy weather” if you couldn’t witness the solar eclipse.
Hope you had a Blessed Second Sunday of Easter!!
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday. ✝️ 🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.