The Sunday of the Resurrection, March 31, 2024
The Sunday of the Resurrection, March 31, 2024
Mary, Mary, and Salome had been seized by trembling and astonishment. The women were in the grip of those overwhelming emotions. The three no longer had control of their feet nor their intentions. They had been seized by a power… an overwhelming power… that gripped them and in the grip of that power they fled and kept their silence. This experience of the three women is the negative of the experience of being gripped by the Holy Spirit, seized by faith, and overwhelmed by its power. Like those three women seized by trembling and astonishment, those seized by faith and in the grip of the Holy Spirit no longer have control. Jesus alludes to this when he responds to the Pharisees who want him to silence the crowd of disciples praising him, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Lk. 19:40). When the Holy Spirit delivers Jesus Christ to be your life (cf. Gal. 2:20 & Col. 3:3-4), you are seized by his faith, held in its grip, and overwhelmed by its power. You are no longer in control. This faith is not that faith which you possess as a virtue. No! This faith is the faith that possesses you. Rather than the fear that drives you to flee and keep silent, this faith that possesses you draws you in and gives you a voice. Alleluia, Christ is risen!
Prayers from those possessed by faith and the life of Christ . . .
Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, so hold me in his faith that I am drawn near to you, kept in the company of others in his faith, and given a voice for witness to the empty tomb. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, as I am held in his faith, grant that I love spontaneously without consideration of how I might benefit. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, as I spontaneously love my neighbors both near and far, grant me to be satisfied without envy or discontent. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, as I live in contentment and peace grant that my satisfaction would be nourished by the regular hearing of your Word. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, reveal to me how I am possessed by his faith while the faith I possess as a virtue is exposed as weak and faltering. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, grant me to come alongside the Institute of Lutheran Theology so that it, too, would come to be possessed by the faith of Jesus Christ. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, during these days of my mortality… while I await my physical death of going down to the dust of my origin… while I am returned again and again to the promises of my baptism… during these days continue to provide the faith that possesses me so that I do not come to depend upon the weak and faltering virtue that I call my faith. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!