"O death, where is thy victory?"

Christ Jesus wins the victory, when we bring ourselves to Him in all of our brokenness and allow Him to live in us, and to love through us inspite of our selfishness. Yes, Christ is our Mighty God, our Warrior, the one-man army that fights on our behalf, winning easily every time. For Christ, to fight is to win. Victory is the only expected outcome for Him - there are no what ifs. Christ wins everytime, anytime, everywhere. Defeat is a foreign idea to Him, like an island that is too far off for the ship's captain to ever see, because the island isn't even on the horizon yet, nor will it ever be.

Christ the Lord is our Risen Lord. Death has lost its sting and has been utterly vanquished by Christ who is Life Himself, the fullness of Life, the very Source of Life.

"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55) You have been utterly, utterly destroyed and decimated by Jesus Christ the Risen Lord. Death, thou art decimated, destroyed, obliterated. Oh, see how the eagles of the night and the phantoms of death are vanquished, and see how they howl in pure anguish for Christ is resurrected, and death is no more.

Eden is Rising

Amidst the wailing of the woeful winter winds I hear one speak, in joyful tones, celebrating all of existence and creation. He was not a prince or king, but an ordinary pilgrim in this passing world: 

I am a man of the world. I belong to no place, yet I belong everywhere. I do not think in terms of countries and towns and provinces, for everywhere is home to me.  Every person is family to me. Wherever I set foot, I claim it as home. Whosoever I converse with, I claim as my family. 

My Mother is Jewish. So is my Brother, my God. My brothers and sisters include a vast array of Saints from every time and place. I belong everywhere, and to everyone. 

A strong new world. A utopia that is finally, finally real. An Eden that has been planted again for us exiles in this valley of tears.

This is it. Catholicism.

Experience all the truth, all the goodness, and all the beauty of the Catholic Church. Let yourself be blown away by its breathtaking love and joy. And be you forever changed. For Christ Jesus has made all things new. 

And I said, So be it. 

Christ Jesus the Good Shepherd

St John 10:11-16 (DR version)

[11] "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. [12] But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth: and the wolf catcheth, and scattereth the sheep: [13] And the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me. [15] As the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father: and I lay down my life for my sheep. [16] And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."

In the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd who really had concern for us, each one of us. Jesus loves us even if we are sinners but it is important to realise what Jesus told the sinner - sin no more. Repentance is becoming of the sinner. To say that God is okay with the sinner remaining sinful is wrong and has negative implications for the moral sphere, as what is wrong is always wrong. But Christ calls us to greater things - greater joys beyond those of this passing, fleeting world that we trod upon.

Christ Jesus says in the above Gospel passage, "I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me." Yes, Christ knows us inside out, knows what we are going through, knows our pain, our worries, our fears, our anxieties, and He also knows what is best for us and what exactly is the solution, the course of action we have to pursue, and what we have to do to reach Him and to do His holy will, which is all that must occupy our minds every waking moment if we are to live heroically. Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows us as we are, in our brokenness, in our misery, in our nothingness - and He calls us His. But the gentle imperative remains: "Go, and sin no more." But He would never command us to do what He would not promise to help us with. Christ is our helper and fortress, every step of the journey. We belong entirely, undeniably to Jesus the Good Shepherd.