The day of the resurrection is simply a fact charged with a proposal.
Author: Fr. Michael Brungardt
Fr. Michael Brungardt (S.T.B, M.Div.) is a priest of the Diocese of Wichita and the parochial vicar at Saint Mary Catholic Church in Derby, Kansas.
Palm Sunday – Entering Into the Mystery
During this Holy Week, we enter into the heart of Jesus’ actions: obedience.
5th Sunday of Lent – New Covenant and the Spirit
The work of new creation isn’t some “apocalyptic” event. It happens modestly, in the silence, in hidden places. But it happens through Spirit at work in those who believe.
4th Sunday of Lent – The Davidic Kingdom and Our Infidelity
The great sin of the people is forgetfulness. Time and again, the sin that drives the people into terrible things is forgetfulness. The people’s problem is not a lack of energy, it’s not a lack of willpower, and it’s not even that they don’t think these laws make sense. It’s forgetfulness; forgetfulness of the God who has been faithful to them.
3rd Sunday of Lent – The Desert and Our Thirst
It is beside our well, the well we have dug out in our desert, that the Lord waits for us. And it’s there—and only there—that the Lord offers us water that will quench our thirst forever, that will give us “eternal life,” the life of the age to come: the life that come through Jesus to us, the life we saw in his Transfiguration. That’s what we need. That’s what will quench the thirst you feel.
2nd Sunday of Lent – Abraham and Faith
There is nothing God delights in more than completely and totally entrusting ourselves to Him, and by holding up His end of the bargain that this trust, this faith is not in vain.
1st Sunday of Lent – Noah and Water
We begin a time of preparation to renew the New and Eternal Covenant (or perhaps, to enter into this Covenant for the first time). Covenant is the way God has chosen to renew us and, in fact, all of creation.
Leprosy? Didn’t We Solve That Problem?
Leprosy wasn’t the problem. It’s a sign of a much deeper problem. And that problem still affects us today. Not only have we been given the cure to that problem, but we have also become the instrument of that cure for everyone else.
Works of Power
Jesus continues to performs “works of power” within us by the Spirit. This whole day is meant to be a day to revel in this, revel in being recreated, here and now. We will be sent out the other six days, and the Spirit will work through us to renew the world. But for one day, on this one day we rest. We allow the Lord to come and to perform his works of power within us.
Repent and Believe
What Jesus is announcing is the good (and extremely dangerous) news that God’s kingdom, His reign, His authority over all the world—God’s kingdom is arriving and breaking in, through him. Our response? Repent and believe. Easier said than done.
