Preparing for Pentecost: Easter Wednesday

As we have borne the image of the earthly man, the image of human nature grown old in sin, so let us bear the image of the heavenly man: human nature raised up, redeemed , restored and purified in Christ.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Easter is more than a day. It is a season of Resurrection as the Church prepares for the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Christian Church.

This is a wonderful time to read the Fathers of the Faith as they encourage, challenge, and call us to a deeper life in Christ. Listen to them as they speak to the Church from across the continuum of history.

During the Season of Easter, Catholic Online will be publishing a daily excerpt of the Fathers taken from the Office of Readings along with questions for reflection. We want to help our online community enter fully into the life and faith that is ours in the Church.

Easter Wednesday

Scripture: I Peter 2:11 - 25

Reading:

Reading from an Easter homily by an ancient author:

Whenever we come across a reading from an unnamed author, we can be reminded that men and women in many generations have lived lives of holiness and have much to pass along to those in succeeding centuries.

Names don't matter when the Church recognizes the truth carried by the words written down by one faithful to the Scripture and Tradition. We all have an opportunity to make a spiritual dent in today's world and leave a lasting impact for the future generations of believers.

Christ the source of resurrection and life

"Saint Paul rejoices in the knowledge that spiritual health has been restored to the human race. Death entered the world through Adam, he explains, but life has been given back to the world through Christ. Again he says: The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven and it is heavenly.

As we have borne the image of the earthly man, the image of human nature grown old in sin, so let us bear the image of the heavenly man: human nature raised up, redeemed , restored and purified in Christ. We must hold fast to the salvation we have received. Christ was the first fruits', says the Apostle; he is the source of resurrection and life. 'Those who belong to Christ will follow him.

Modeling their lives on his purity, they will be secure in the hope of his resurrection and of enjoying with him the glory promised in heaven. Our Lord himself said so in the gospel: Whoever follows me will not perish, but will pass from death to life.

Thus the passion of our Savior is the salvation of mankind. The reason why he desired to die for us was that he wanted us who believe in him to live for ever. In the fullness of time it was his will to become what we are, so that we might inherit the eternity he promised and live with him for ever.

Here, then, is the grace conferred by these heavenly mysteries, the gift which Easter brings, the most longed for feast of the year; here are the beginnings of creatures newly formed: children born from the life giving font of holy Church, born anew with the simplicity of little ones, and crying out with the evidence of a clean conscience.

Chaste fathers and inviolate mothers accompany this new family, countless in number, born to new life through faith. As they emerge from the grace giving womb of the font, a blaze of candles burns brightly beneath the tree of faith. The Easter festival brings the grace of holiness from heaven to men. Through the repeated celebration of the sacred mysteries they receive the spiritual nourishment of the sacraments.

Fostered at the very heart of holy Church, the fellowship of one community worships the one God, adoring the triple name of his essential holiness, and together with the prophet sings the psalm which belongs to this yearly festival: This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. And what is this day?

It is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the author of light, who brings the sunrise and the beginning of life, saying of himself: I am the light of day; whoever walks in daylight does not stumble. That is to say, whoever follows Christ in all things will come by this path to the throne of eternal light.

Such was the prayer Christ made to the Father while he was still on earth: Father, I desire that where I am they also may be, those who have come to believe in me; and that as you are in me and I in you, so they may abide in us."

Reflection:

1) The writer makes reference to one of the wonderful aspects of Easter - beholding those who desire to come into the Church enter through the waters of baptism. This is described by the writer as coming forth from the "grace giving womb of the font."

Easter is a wonderful season to reflect upon our own baptism. Each of us who have come into the Church came from that same womb. Have you fully embraced the vows made for you by your parents and Godparents during the Sacrament? Do you remember what those vows are? [To review these, go to https://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=1465]

2) "The day the Lord has made" is a reference to Christ according to the writer. He is the new "day" in which we live. How can we incorporate this understanding into each new 24-hour day we encounter? What does it mean to you personally that you are living in the "Day of Jesus Christ?" Are there ways you need to reflect the joy of that Day in your normal every day?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, this is the day that you have made, not just a day on the calendar but this day of salvation in which we can live our lives in you. Help us to remember always that we are living in this special Day. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord who with you and the Holy Spirit be glory and honor now and unto ages of ages. Amen.

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