Office for Christian Unity
Thursday 11 April 2024
Meditation
The Resurrection: a power of radical transformation
To believe in Christ is to believe that there is a dynamic principle of transformation, that is, of liberation. For I am not free, because I am a sinner, and I know that I can only become free by being transformed. That is the Resurrection. It is not the resuscitation of a corpse, it is the passage to freedom, the freedom to love. And this passage to freedom implies a radical transformation.
This is yet another way of saying what faith is.It is the acceptance of a living power of radical transformation. To believe is to welcome this power of radical transformation that is the risen Christ. He is the creator, not the maker. Father Teilhard de Chardin developed this at length: to create is to transform; creation is a transformation, a genesis and not the making of an object. We are not objects.
I can’t imagine the transformation that the Risen Christ brings about in me. You have to give it up. At the heart of the life of faith, there is a radical mortification. I can’t imagine it, I can only follow its rhythm.
François Varillon, ‘La Pâque de Jésus. Vivre le christianisme.’ T. 3. Bayard Editions, 2000, pp. 143-144.
Intercessions
Prepared by our brothers and sisters at Sainte Marie boarding school in Lyon
To be adapted according to your location
Lord, thank you for having called the Chemin Neuf Community to the mission of Sainte-Marie Lyon. Thank you for all the brothers and sisters who have given so selflessly of themselves in this place. Give us a humble heart that listens to the Spirit and the Church. We also thank you for the Marist Fathers who founded this school and so many others. Thank you for your work, then and now, through this missionary community. Come and bless it and encourage it so that it can fulfil your call.
Lord, you who came to light a fire on earth, we thank you for your burning heart, which ardently desires to console, to lift up, to heal. We entrust to your mercy the 5,000 pupils and students of Sainte-Marie Lyon, their parents, their teachers and the members of staff. You know the tragedies and suffering, sometimes hidden, that can be found in people’s hearts. Lord reveal yourself, come and save us.
Lord, we thank you for your call to serve you in the world of education. Grant that all those you send, especially school pastoral workers (APS), religious and priests, may joyfully bear witness to your mercy. We entrust to you the heads of schools who bear pastoral responsibility. Give them a bold heart to proclaim the Good News and your Spirit of wisdom.