Tag: Resurrection

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What happened to the True Cross?

How did the Church find the relics from Jesus’ crucifixion?

Have you ever wondered what happened to Jesus’ cross? Known as “the True Cross,” for hundreds of years this highly-venerated relic was thought to be lost.

Anti-Christian Romans sought to dispel any effort to spread the Good News; that included destroying objects from Jesus’s crucifixion. According to tradition, the True Cross was buried in the ground with the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus.

Almost 300 years later, after the Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, he sent his mother, St. Helena, to the Holy Land in search of the True Cross. According to legend, St. Helena followed in Jesus’ footsteps by performing corporal works of mercy—such as feeding the hungry and visiting the sick—on her way to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy Land, some legends say a commoner led her to the True Cross, while others believe that St. Judas Cyriacus helped her find it.

St. Helena found all three crosses buried in the ground, but wasn’t sure which one belonged to Jesus. There are many different legends about how St. Helena and the bishop of Jerusalem confirmed which one was the True Cross. One myth claims the bishop of Jerusalem had an ill woman touch all three crosses. As soon as the woman touched the True Cross, she was healed.

Upon discovering the True Cross, St. Helena ordered a church to be constructed on the site where she found it This church is known as the Church of the Resurrection, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. St. Helena brought a piece of the True Cross back to the empire’s capital city, Constantinople, and left another part at the Church of the Resurrection, where Christians made a yearly pilgrimage to see the relic.

Throughout the next thousand years, the piece of the True Cross at the Church of the Resurrection changed hands many times. It was captured in 614 by the Sassanid emperor, and then restored to Jerusalem by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. Later, when the Islamic rulers took Jerusalem at the beginning of the 11th century, Greek Orthodox Christians protected and hid the relic of the True Cross, a small piece of wood embedded in a gold cross.

This relic was restored to the Church of the Resurrection when Europeans in the First Crusade captured Jerusalem. Finally, in 1187, it was captured by Saladin, the leader of the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in Levant. This piece of the True Cross has never returned and was last seen in the city of Damascus.

The piece of the True Cross that was preserved in Constantinople was shared among the Venetians and the new Eastern Roman Empire. However, threatened with bankruptcy, this new empire decided to sell the relics. St. Louis, King of France, bought several pieces of the True Cross and preserved them in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Most of these relics disappeared during the French Revolution. All that remain are a few fragments and a Holy Nail; these are preserved with the other relics in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.

//The Catholic Company//

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Give Us This Day – She Didn’t Hold Back

What does it mean to be identified with a city? Jesus is sometimes written off as a Nazarene, the “son of the carpenter,” whose family members are known to the townspeople of Nazareth. In contrast to Nazareth, Mary Magdalene’s hometown was a reason to respect her.  

Magdala was not only a particular village but a whole commercial fishing district all along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was an economic hub, the center of a thriving salted-fish export business involving Jewish fishermen and Roman shippers. The spare references in Luke 8:1-4 suggest that Mary of Magdala was known for her power to lead others, that she enjoyed economic autonomy and shared generously. If she’d been freed of seven demons, what an abundance of health, magnetism, freedom, and joyous energy must have struck everyone who met her!  

And yet when Mary Magdalene met Jesus in the garden after his resurrection, she had every basis for disorientation and distraction. The Passover festival time had turned into a nightmare, got upended by the arrest and execution of her teacher and friend, and she didn’t know what to expect. Fear, helplessness, grief, confusion, disbelief. But re-centered by her personal encounter with Jesus, she found her emotional grounding and didn’t lose her voice. She went back to the male disciples and reported what she saw and heard.

She didn’t hold back. She spoke with energy and passion. That’s why we love her and remember her. May the force of both her financial generosity and truth-telling inspire us during these Easter days.  

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Minute Meditation – Carry the Light

“In the liturgy we relive the state of mind of the disciples over the news which the women had brought: Jesus is Risen! We have seen him! If only we were so luminous! But this is not just cosmetic! It comes from within, from a heart immersed in the source of this joy, like that of Mary Magdalene, who wept over the loss of her Lord and could hardly believe her eyes seeing him risen. Whoever experiences this becomes a witness of the Resurrection, for in a certain sense he himself has risen, she herself has risen. He or she is then capable of carrying a “ray” of light of the Risen One into various situations: to those that are happy, making them more beautiful by preserving them from egoism; to those that are painful, bringing serenity and hope.” —Pope Francis

One of Pope Francis’s favorite distinctions is the difference between joy and mere happiness. This is something that’s good to carry with us into the Easter season. His example of Mary Magdalene points to a key aspect of joy: It often follows a time of suffering, of disappointment, of struggle overcome and transformed. If Mary hadn’t cared so much for Jesus, her sense of loss wouldn’t have been as deep, but neither would her joy at their reunion. If we live our lives only on the surface, surrounding ourselves with acquaintances rather than real friends, we will find it difficult to experience deep emotions. Likewise, if our faith is only an intellectual exercise, a list of rules and doctrines instead of a personal encounter with the divine, we will miss the way it can truly change our hearts. One of the hallmarks of a true friend is someone who can accompany us through good times and bad, weeping and rejoicing as circumstances change. A genuine faith offers the same support. We are blessed if we have such friends, graced if we have such faith. 

Pope Francis reminds us that when we recognize the blessings in our lives, we will have a joy that we can share with others in good  times and bad. If someone has done this for you recently, take a moment to let them know. As you reflect on your own joy in this Easter season, find a way to share it with someone who needs a ray or two of Christ’s light in their lives. 

— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis,

by Diane M. Houdek

//Franciscan Media//

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Minute Meditation – Christ Our Hope Has Risen

“Mercy and Love have conquered sin! We need faith and hope in order to open ourselves to this new and marvelous horizon. And we know that faith and hope are gifts from God, and we need to ask for them: ‘Lord, grant me faith, grant me hope! I need them so much!’ The silent witness to the events of Jesus’s Passion and Resurrection was Mary. She stood beside the Cross: she did not fold in the face of pain; her faith made her strong. In the broken heart of the Mother, the flame of hope was kept ever burning. Let us ask her to help us too to fully accept the Easter proclamation of the Resurrection, so as to embody it in the concreteness of our daily lives.”—Pope Francis 

The Gospels of Easter week unfold the mystery of the resurrection through those who were its first witnesses. In their words and in their actions we have a model for our own lives. The first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, shows us how Peter and the others were inspired to speak out in ways that they never dreamed of before the resurrection. And Matthew’s Gospel reminds us that from the beginning, there was opposition from those who felt threatened by this new movement of the Spirit. Our day is not much different. Sometimes our faith moves us outward with great joy and fervent hope. But sometimes we need to go within, to renew our strength and our courage in quiet times of prayer. Depending on the circumstances of our lives this year, we might not be feeling the exuberant joy we expect in this season of Easter. Illness, death, unemployment, depression, and other human realities don’t necessarily happen according to the liturgical year. But in a time when it seems the only constant is change, our faith—and even more, our hope—reminds us that God’s love will always be there for us. 

The beauty of the liturgical seasons is that they offer us a new chance each year to experience the richness of God’s work of salvation in our lives. Each year we grow a bit more in our faith. Each year the events in our lives offer us new insight into what the resurrection means for us and our loved ones. What one thing is different about your life this Easter? 

— from the book The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis,

by Diane M. Houdek

//Franciscan Media//

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Feast Day – April 4, 2021 – Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection

On Easter Sunday the Church celebrates the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from the dead, the greatest feast of the liturgical year. For this purpose Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent into the world. Through the celebration of this feast Christians also anticipate the resurrection of their own glorified bodies at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It is customary for Christians to joyfully proclaim to one another, “He is risen!” with the response, “He is risen, indeed!”

//The Catholic Company//

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Today’s Feast Day – April 3rd – Holy Saturday

On Holy Saturday the Church mourns in prayer and fasting, meditating on Christ’s Passion and Death. There is no Mass during the day as Jesus is still in the tomb. On this day Jesus descended triumphantly into Hades (called the “harrowing of hell”) and brought salvation to the righteous souls held captive there who awaited their promised Messiah, as recited in the Apostle’s Creed. On the night of Holy Saturday the Church celebrates the Vigil of Easter Sunday, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the tomb, the traditional time when the Sacraments of Initiation are given to new members of the Church.

//The Catholic Company//

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Minute Meditation – The Way Up is The Way Down

“Your mind must be the same as Christ’s. Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God as something to be clung to. Instead he emptied himself, and became like a slave, and was born in the likeness of humanity…obediently accepting even death.” —Philippians 2:5–7 

The hymn from Philippians artistically, honestly, but boldly describes that “secret hour” when God in Christ reversed the parabola, when the waxing became waning. It says it actually started with the great self-emptying or kenosis that we call the Incarnation in Bethlehem and ends with the Crucifixion in Jerusalem. It brilliantly connects the two mysteries as one movement, down, down, down into the enfleshment of creation, and then into humanity’s depths and sadness, and final identification with those at the very bottom (“took the form of a slave”) on the cross. Jesus represents God’s total solidarity with, and even love of, the human situation, as if to say “nothing human is abhorrent to me.” God, if Jesus is right, has chosen to descend—in almost total counterpoint with our humanity that is always trying to climb, achieve, perform, and prove itself. He invites us to reverse the process too. This hymn says that Jesus leaves the ascent to God, in God’s way, and in God’s time. What freedom! And it happens, better than any could have expected. “And because of this, God lifted him up, and gave him the name above all other names.” We call it resurrection or ascension. Jesus is set as the human blueprint, the standard in the sky, the oh-so-hopeful pattern of divine transformation. Who would have presumed that the way up could be the way down? It is, as Paul says, “the Secret Mystery.” Trust the down, and God will take care of the up. This leaves humanity in solidarity with the life cycle, but also with one another, with no need to create success stories for itself, or to create failure stories for others. Humanity in Jesus is free to be human and soulful instead of any false climbing into “Spirit.” This was supposed to change everything, and it still will. 

“Lord Jesus, if you are indeed the Lord of History, then you are showing us the plan, direction, and meaning of the human journey. I want to speak like never before that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’ Now it is not an assertion of dominance or rightness over anybody else, but only a willingness to trust and follow your humble path.”

—from the book Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent

by Richard Rohr, OFM

//Franciscan Media//

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Feast Day – March 28 – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the reliving of the final seven days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. On this day the Church recalls the triumphal entrance of the Messiah into Jerusalem in order to accomplish the Pascal Mystery: His Passion, death, burial, and resurrection for the salvation of all mankind. Jesus rode into the city on a colt as the crowd laid their cloaks and palm branches on the road before him, shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest!”

//The Catholic Company//

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Daily Message from Pope Francis – We Are Brothers

SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021

“Dear Brothers and Sisters, by God’s providence, in these days I was able to make the first visit of a Pope to the land of Abraham…  Abraham’s hope, and that of his descendants, is fulfilled in the mystery we celebrated, in Jesus, the Son that God the Father did not spare, but gave for everyone’s salvation: through His death and resurrection, He opened the way to the promised land, to that new life where tears are dried, wounds are healed, brothers and sisters are reconciled… “You are all brothers” (Mt 23:8).”Pope Francis