Tuesday Faith Formation SHARING THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL

Redemption

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus: His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name with is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2: 5-11

1. The Passion of Jesus

CCC 606: “From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work’ (Jn 4:34). The sacrifice of Jesus 'for the sins of the whole world’. (Jn 2:2) expresses his loving communion with the Father. ‘The Father loves me, because I lay down my life,’ said the Lord, ‘(for) I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father’ (Jn 10:17; 14:31).”

CCC 608: Jesus is the Lamb of God, “the Suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sins of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb…” (cf. Jn 1:29; Is 53:7).

CCC 609, 612: Jesus’ human heart embraced the Father’s love for all human beings, and so Jesus loved us “to the end” (Jn 13:1). In his agony in the garden of Gethsemani, his prayer that “this cup pass” from him expresses his solidarity with the full impact of the overwhelming fear of death for his human nature.

CCC 614, 617: Christ’s sacrifice, in virtue of the union of his human nature with the divine nature in the Person of the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, uniquely accomplishes the definitive salvation of all. CCC 618: Each and every one of us is called to participate in Christ’s sacrifice.

2. The Burial and descent into Hell

CCC 624 "By the grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one“. In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our sins" but should also "taste death", experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the cross and the time he was raised from the dead. the state of the dead Christ is the mystery of the tomb and the descent into hell. It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, reveals God's great sabbath rest after the fulfilment of man's salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe.

CCC 635 Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.“ Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.“ Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."

3. The Resurrection and Ascension

“... He was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures; that he first appeared to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time... Then he appeared James and then to all of the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me...” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “He is not here, for he has been raised” Mt 28:6 “He (John)saw and believed John 20:8

A historical event

What do we learn from Christ’s Resurrection? “ But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead how can we say there is no resurrection from the dead? If there is no resurrection from the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty is too is our preaching; empty too is your faith.” 1 Corinthians 15: 12-14

How is the Resurrection a work of the Trinity? The three divine Persons act together as one... The Father’s power raised up Christ his Son... Jesus is conclusively revealed as “ Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (CCC 648 citing Romans 1:3-4)

Jesus was “lifted up and a cloud took him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9)

Workshops Workshop 1 For those who transmit the Catholic faith to children Workshop 2 For those who transmit the Catholic faith to young people Workshop 3 For those who transmit the Catholic faith to adults Workshop 4 For those who want to deepen their own understanding of the Catholic faith

Mary, Virgin and Mother, you who, moved by the Holy Spirit, welcomed the word of life in the depths of your humble faith: as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One, help us to say our own “yes” to the urgent call, as pressing as ever, to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Mother of the living Gospel, wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones, pray for us. Amen. Alleluia!

Acknowledgments Mosaics artworks: © Fr Marko Rupnik and Centro Aletti - All other artworks: public domain, from en.wikipedia.org Scripture: Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA