32^ndSunday in Ordinary Time
         In a reflection he wrote on the mystery of Easter, his Holiness, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI writes:  “... what faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means for the Christian overall: It is it’s very foundation.  The Christian faith stands or falls with the truth of the testimony that Christ is risen from the dead ....  Only if Jesus is risen has anything really new occurred that changes the world and the situation of mankind.”  (from his book, “Jesus of Nazareth” Pope Benedict XVI 2011)
 Beginning a hundred years or so before the birth of Christ we see a slowly gathering awareness in Judaism of an afterlife where ones fidelity or infidelity to God would be duly rewarded or punished.  This awareness led to a hazy understanding of resurrection and still His Resurrection comes as a complete surprise. Shocking people even now as it shocked His disciples and Apostles.  As Pope Benedict puts it, Jesus resurrection really is that one really new occurrence that changed everything.
Fr. Rick