Benya@unisinos.br<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues and Benefactors:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The celebration is one of two in Christendom commemorated in an \u201coctave\u201d, an 8-day period of spiritual festivities (the other being Christmas). The Easter Octave brings a unique reminder that our entire position before Almighty God and our stance within creation CHANGED instantly, subtly and profoundly through our Redemption by Jesus Christ in the Salvation He won;\u2026 free and clear. We were Transformed.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The subtlety of the original event can be lost as one examines and meditates on it through the present context of profane, modern and post-modern perception; dismissing it completely as a hoax OR assuming it to be one simplistic, \u201cmathematical\u201d event offering little or no challenge to us, the redeemed. Subtle challenge (maddening at times and unique to each participant) was and remains an essential key to Salvation.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Holy Scripture presents a sequence of manifestations by Jesus Christ of Himself to individuals or groups whose stance was far from \u201copen\u201d. The first such manifestation was to the soldiers, guarding the tomb, sleeping or half-asleep (Mt 28: 4, 11-15). These quickly panicked and then submitted to bribery for purposes of silence and even miss-information. Yet they were, as is all humanity, REDEEMED. Hopefully they repented of their fault and embraced the Savior.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The sequence continues with a group of pious women who approached the tomb well before daybreak on Easter Sunday (Mk 16: 1-5; Mt 28: 1-3: Lk 24: 1-8) wondering who would remove the stone at the entrance of the tomb. At their arrival the stone is conveniently removed and a \u201cyoung man\u201d (angelic in origin) patiently informs them of the Risen Savior directing them to notify Christ\u2019s disciples of His Resurrection. These instructions they dutifully absorb and then ignore because of unadulterated FEAR.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of these women remains near the tomb for no specific reason except a personal longing to locate the missing corpse of the Crucified. Personally manifesting Himself to her, she fails to recognize Him and even confuses Him for one of the hirelings,\u2026. the gardener (Jn 20: 15) in a dialogue that permits Christ only one word; \u201cMiriam\u201d (Mary in Hebrew, her name). At this she recognized Him as \u201cRaboni\u201d (Master) and apparently tries something akin to a tackle hoping to keep Him in one place. He then strictly instructs her \u201cDo no detain me.\u201d but sends her to inform His disciples of His resurrection. This she does with no complication and is quickly dismissed as incoherent (Lk 24: 9-11; Mk 16: 9-11).<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Still later that same day Christ manifests Himself to a couple of followers, in hurried and frightened exit from Jerusalem, engaging them in lively conversation and clarification (Lk 25: 13-35). These also fail to recognize Him until He actually breaks bread with them and then disappears at which time they muster blithe courage, return to Jerusalem and discover that the entire group is confused concerning the day\u2019s events.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This scenario of doubt, fear and surprise is crucial in that it verifies the respect and patience of the Redeemer for EACH one of us individually. His manifestations are unique and specific, according\u00a0 to each one\u2019s capacity. HE perseveres WITH us notwithstanding our personal DENSITY (spiritual or otherwise). Receive HIM; with a<\/p>\n
Peaceful and Blessed Pascal tide!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sincerely in Jesus Christ<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pe. Ed Benya, S.J.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This scenario of doubt, fear and surprise is crucial in that it verifies the respect and patience of the Redeemer for EACH one of us individually. His manifestations are unique and specific, according to each one\u2019s capacity. HE perseveres WITH us notwithstanding our personal DENSITY (spiritual or otherwise). Receive HIM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85,"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.egfbenya.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}