"O sing a new song to the Lord, for he has worked wonders; in the sight of the nations he has shown his deliverance, alleluia." - Entrance Antiphon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Throughout this Easter Season we have constantly spoken of the new life gained through the Resurrection of Jesus and which we are able to enter into through Baptism. Now, although this is a spiritual life, it must have implications in our physical and earthly lives. In other words, it should be manifest to the world that we are Christians!
We may recall to our minds the famous Letter to Diognetus, a portion of which is used for the Second Reading of the Office of Readings this coming Wednesday:
"Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
"And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law (From the Second Reading for the Office of Readings for Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter)."
We here recall the words of our Lord to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)." This new birth does not change our species as members of mankind, however, but instead transfigures that spiritual part of us, which was dead in sin. This is why the Letter to Diognetus says that men inhabit the world as apparently normal humans, but also inhabit another world, which cannot be seen. For the Christian has not undergone any physical change through the waters of Baptism, but his spirit has radically changed! He is now a dweller on earth, but a citizen of Heaven!
This is the reason that although one cannot tell we are Christians by simply looking at us, or by where we live, or work, etc., they should be able to say by seeing our manner of life, "That person is a Christian!" We may at first why this is, for there are many religions which preach the necessity of living a moral life. Our elder brothers and sisters in the faith of Abraham, those of Judaism, are called to live moral and upright lives. Those who profess belief in the one true God with us, the Muslims, live virtuous lives. Even the followers of the Eastern religions especially preach the necessity of living a life of integrity.
Yet there should be something different about the life of a Christian! Though many other religions promise an afterlife, we have already begun to live that here below! While it is true we live a life of suffering and are still ultimately subject to death, we are also already able to share in the foretaste of the eternal life we hope to enter into. In fact, we live that life in the spirit, already, with the exception of the Beatific Vision. It is for this reason the Christian is said to be a member of both worlds, for the soul, as long as it remains in the state of grace, is a dweller in Heaven, while the body still dwells on earth. The difference death and the end of time will bring is that, first, the soul will be united to the Beatific Vision, where the citizenship will become permanent. Then, at the end of time, both soul and body will share in this glory.
As citizens of the next life, then, we must live by those laws and not simply the laws of earth. And the laws of a Christian may easily be summed up in the two Laws of Love given by our Lord, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39)." These two summations of the Law and the Prophets work especially for Christians, who are no longer bound by the Law of Moses for its fulfillment has come, but who still live in the spirit of that Law.
It is completely true the law of Heaven is one simply of love, and we may compare it to the "Golden Rule," but that given by our Lord. The original Golden Law was not as we have it now, "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them (Matthew 7:12)." Instead, the original Golden Rule was, "Do not do unto others, as you would not have them do unto you." It is upon this the laws of earth are based. Cultures almost always have laws against stealing, murder, etc. because no one wants that to happen to them.
But the Golden Rule of Christ is much more difficult, but infinitely more rewarding! To treat all as we would ultimately want to be treated requires a great self-denial, one of the features which so marks a Christian. But even this marks the other religions, especially those based on the Eastern philosophies, but what marks the Christian is the joy with which it is done. We will not go so far as to say joy does not mark the self-denial of other religions, but ours has a joy which is often lacking. For as we have already said, we perform our acts of self-denial and of charity as already citizens of that life which we hope to inherit.
It is very true we still have to hope that we may enter into the eternal life for which we long, for up until the moment of death we still have the possibility to lose the life of grace which is necessary for this inheritance. Nevertheless, as long as we live in this life of grace, we share in the eternal joys, and if we are truly and fully united with the grace of God, we cannot help but sing a new song to Him. And this is because this grace not only pervades every aspect of our lives, but renews them and allows us to transcend even beyond the daily doldrums and make every moment new! St. Augustine called the Lord, "O Beauty ever ancient, ever new (The Confessions, X, 27)." Every moment we are united with the God is a new moment because we can grow in love and knowledge of Him, and as we grow in love and knowledge we experience a new depth of life, for God can never be exhausted.
The paradox here is that as we grow in love and knowledge of God, we are forced to love and know Him more. As we learn of all the wonders He has done for us, we thus love the Lord even more because of His great and unparalleled generosity. Ultimately, then, this love transforms us; it forces us to live our lives in a new way. St. Louis de Montfort said, in regards to the Rosary, "You cannot live in sin and pray the Rosary. You will either give up sin or you will give up the Rosary." The very principle of this goes into our lives of grace. We cannot serve the laws of God or the laws of sin, which is what governs the world (though not every people and nation of the world), but we cannot serve both. Our Lord Himself said it, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24)." It is impossible for us not to be drawn, based on our actions and decisions, to either the laws of grace or the laws of sin. And the more we are drawn to the one, the further we will depart from the other.
The Lord has, then, shown His deliverance to the nations through us. For as we have departed from the laws of sin which govern this world, we stand out. We stand out because it is obvious we live for something more. We do not leave the world; rather, we still live in it, but there is a joy to our lives lacking in those who have no hope. The Christian loves not out of any profit for himself, but purely for love of God. Although he obeys the just laws of the nation in which he resides, he does so with a respect and not a fear of punishment. He obeys the laws of the kingdoms and the nations of earth in order to serve God, not out of a philosophical understanding for the need for order.
In this Easter Season, then, which we are now over halfway through, let us strive to continue to live as children of the Resurrection. Let us remember that we begin, here below, how we shall live our lives for eternity. Let us strive to make every moment a grace-laden moment in which we work to do God's will, in which we pray to know and love Him more, and in which we rejoice in the peace and triumph which union with Him brings!
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