LUMEN FIDEI - VII

Blessed is she who believed

Concluding Section (Art. 58-60) and some Personal Remarks...

As a concluding note the encyclical presents to us a model or an exemplification of all that has been spoken about. And in right words it says, "the Mother of the Lord is the perfect icon of faith" and quotes the words of St. Elisabeth in the Gospel according to St. Luke (1:45), 'Blessed is she who believed'. Calling the Blessed Mother, "good soil", the encyclical calls to our attention the meaningful expression of Justin Martyr, 'In receiving the message of the angel, Mary conceived faith and joy'(58). Mary can be pictured as someone who closely followed Jesus in his entire salvation journey right from the moment of the Word becoming flesh to the moment when this son of hers was raised to the right hand of the Father as the eternal Lord and sovereign judge (59). 

The last article(60) is a beautiful prayer made on behalf of us all, to the Blessed Virgin ...

to Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen one,... 

to Remind us that those who believe are never alone,... and

to Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus.

Personally...

The experience of reading through and reflecting on this Encyclical has borne one remarkable fruit in me - not to look at faith as something that is just between me and my God. It is definitely much more than that, it is something that defines my day to day life, my every relationship, my decisions on even the most ordinary things, my priorities - in short the entire world in which I live. I cannot think of my faith as something that is apart from me, for it has become the very personality that I am, from the very moment that I accepted it in my baptism and confirmed it through other sacraments of initiation. It is a gratuitous gift that God has placed within me, in the core of my being and it affects every aspect of my life. It makes me go out of myself and find myself in solidarity with the brothers and sisters in the same Lord to whom all of us respond in our own way, influenced by our personal traits and social upbringing. The very understanding of the institution of the Church as the communion of persons united in one expression of faith, is something that can facilitate readily our journey towards making present the Reign of God on earth.

However, there is one point on which the encyclical gives away a necessity of growth within the Church and the Official Magisterium of the Church. It is the aspect of Inclusive Language. The encyclical, or the least to say its English translation, still has a language that is highly masculine. Except in three places (art. 21,26,45), everywhere else the reference to a Christian or to the person to whom the encyclical is addressed, remains masculine - that is "he" or "him" or "man"! If the Magisterium can learn from the evolving times and the growing sensitivity, and become more inclusive in its language, it would be a more Reign-likely picture of the Church that it can offer to the world. 

If at all there is something that can be felt as a lack, it could be pointed out that the practical application of faith and the pastoral challenges it poses could have been treated a little more elaborately. Though the fourth chapter undertakes the task, personally at the end of the chapter, I could not help feeling disappointed that some current issues and urgent problems have not been touched upon. The feeling notwithstanding, the encyclical given its nature cannot speak of everything and within its scope, it appears quite complete!

Being the first one of the Pontificate of Pope Francis, LUMEN FIDEI has set the tone to the pastoral-minded Pontiff's wish for the flock that he shepherds. He has thrown a candid invitation to the faithful, to live their faith than just to possess it. Living the faith brings one's religious convictions to the daily life, and to the events and persons that fill it, and requires one to converse, dialogue and relate with the other, thus building relationships that lead each and every one to do one's part towards building the Reign of God, here and now!

The End... A personal summary by... Antony Christy sdb. 

BE LOVE! BE COMPASSION!

14th July, 2013: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Religion has been traditionally considered a search for God, some of them are long-winded and some others super-human. The Liturgy today differs from this point of view and indicates to a Christian that living as a Christian is neither too hard nor too far off. Jesus Christ the Son of God has brought it so close to us, by becoming one of us and having lived out for us in his own life a model to be emulated, an example to be followed and a path to be retraced. Those who wish to take the unbeaten path need not worry, for this path traced by Jesus will forever remain unbeaten for not as many as enough dare take that path. The Challenge thus is alive for you and me today!

The Word of God is in my heart! What God wants of me, what really matters to lead a life worthy of the One who created me, is right within me! It is in the core of my being, because I am created in the image and the likeness of God (Gen 1:27) and having been created in God's own image, I have within me all that is Godly...all that is characteristic of God, I have it embedded in the core of my being! If nothing hinders or distorts it, this is what I will manifest too in my daily life! This is what the book of Deuteronomy teaches us today in the first reading! The latest encyclical Lumen Fidei (LF 20) makes reference to this passage and speaks of the exegesis made by St. Paul on this passage from Deuteronomy - in Romans 10:6-7 we read St.Paul telling us, that we need not wonder how will we come to understand this inherent nature of ours - because we have Jesus Christ who has revealed it to us!

Christ came to reveal to us not merely who God was, but who we were; that we are the image and likenesses of God, that we are sons and daughters of a God who is love and compassion. A literal translation of the Hebrew version of Psalm 103, would read, "The Lord is compassion and love" (Ps 102(103):8) - not merely that God is compassionate and loving, but God is compassion and love! Christ was the visible image of this invisible God - Christ was the love of God personified, Christ was the living image of Compassion. He came to reveal to us, how much God loved us and how filled with compassion God is. Our call to be Christians is not a call to believe in some truths and adhere to some moral virtues, it is to live as Christ lived, to think as Christ thought, to feel as Christ felt, to love as Christ loved!

That is why Jesus did not stop with the two great commandments, he made them just one and said - "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34). According to Christ it is not enough to love the other as I love myself... but I am called to love the other as God loves me, as Christ loved me - that is, to love unconditionally, to love without counting the cost, to love even upto the death on the Cross!

That is a challenge! That is why when they asked Jesus who is my neighbour, Jesus did not answer them directly. He gave them a parable and made them reflect, to whom they have to be a neighbour! Yes the Lord invites me today to be a neighbour to every person who is in need, every person who is suffering alone, who is left to bleed on the pavements of the present world of globalisation, consumerism and technological domination. I am asked to be a neighbour to everyone who is tired and heavy laden, everyone who is lonely and sick, sick in the body, mind, heart and soul. Let me not ask anymore the stale question, who is my neighbour! If I am truly a Christian, I would ask a question more pertinent - TO WHOM SHOULD I BE A NEIGHBOUR...and the answer will be right before our eyes.

And the way to be a neighbour is what Jesus explains today! To be like himself, to feel for the other like Jesus, to live like Jesus, to love like Jesus - that is to BE LOVE, to BE COMPASSION in the world today. That is the most fitting way to be a Christian today.

WORD 2day

13th July, 2013

A Challenge and an Assurance! The challenge is to belong to God, come what may. It is not an easy task considering the prevailing atmosphere today. I know of so many youngsters who are so inspiring by the absolute choice that they have made for God and the will of God. People who have had great ambitions and plans, but  have just thrown them into the air for the sake of a vision that God inspired. Persons who have had prospects so promising, but have ignored those just because they felt they have been called for a specific mission, a mission in the footsteps of the Master-saviour. Daring individuals who have made choices for which they are being derided, called names and have suffered worst experiences of want and willful deprivation. A challenge! When this challenge is taken up, one could find oneself on a tossing sea or a troubled sky, but nothing would disturb the person for he or she has found a ground so firm, a base so strong, a root so deep - the Lord who calls, commissions and walks one through. At the end of all the tribulations, pervades a serenity, a sense of accomplishment, the same sense with which Jesus gasped on the cross, "It is accomplished." That is the tone in which Jacob aka Israel speaks today of his end and what should come after. The Lord does not leave us merely with the challenge, he attaches an assurance! The assurance of God's caring presence with us! The new encyclical Lumen Fidei calls this 'the accompanying presence of God' (LF 57). An assurance that arises from the fact that God loves us, that God values us, that God cares for us, and above all, that God counts on us! 

LUMEN FIDEI - VI

God prepares a city for them

Chapter 4: Articles 50-57.

Faith is not merely a journey alone, affirms repeatedly the encyclical, it is also a process of building, building a city, a society, a place where humanity can live together. As Noah the first builder in faith built the Ark, and Abraham set up tents, we are called to build the world in to a place habitable for humanity today. As we see in those persons of faith, firmness of faith marks the city which God is preparing for humankind. Faith is born of an encounter with God's own love and hence it does not speak of an interior firmness or steadfast conviction of the individual alone; it illumines every human relationships (50). The light of faith enhances the "richness of human relations, their ability to endure, to be trustworthy, to enrich our life together"(51). Anything other than love, if it becomes the basis of human unity, it involves calculations of utility! Hence a the light of faith is at the service of justice, law and peace, as a way of creating enduring and enriching human relations. The Old Testament for example, presents to us persons like Samuel and David, whose faith enabled them to "administer justice"(51).

The Old Testament bears witness to the fact that blessings were passed from fathers to the sons, establishing for us, that "the first setting in which faith enlightens the human city is the family"(52). Marriage and the origin of New Life, are direct interventions of God's love. "Promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than our own ideas and undertakings, a plan which sustains us and enables us to surrender our future entirely to the one we love"(52). Passing on Faith in the family happens in the process of shared expression of faith within the family, helping children to become aware of their faith and grow and mature in it. The Young people need the closeness of the family and the Church, as they find themselves in the troublesome yet rich phase of their life(53). The encyclical recalls the experiences of the World Youth Days and finds in them but a manifestation of the yearning of the Young, to live their life to the fullest. "Encountering Christ, letting themselves be caught up in and guided by his love, enlarges the horizons of existence, gives it a firm hope which will not disappoint"(53). "Faith is no refuge for fainthearted, but something which enhances our lives" (53) declares the encyclical.

Faith, in concrete a situation, becomes the light for the life in the society. It invites one to look at the other as a blessing, as someone through whose face the light of God's love shines. A human person is not cast adrift in the nature of the world; he or she can never renounce one's proper moral responsibility nor can presume "to be a sort of absolute judge endowed with an unlimited power to manipulate the world around him"(54) or her.  Revealing the love of God the creator, faith enables us to respect nature and discern in it a "grammar written by the hand of God and a dwelling place entrusted to our protection and care"(55). A concrete expression of faith requires that we are responsible for 'just forms of governance' which believes that authority comes from God, at the service of the common good; for 'possibility of forgiveness' which requires time, effort, patience and commitment. "Rather than avoiding conflict, we need to confront it in an effort to resolve and move beyond it, to make it a link in a chain, as part of a progress towards unity"(55).

Faith as the source of consolation and strength amid suffering, sheds a special light on personal lives of those who suffer and on suffering as a human reality. "Christians know that suffering cannot be eliminated, yet it can have meaning and become an act of love and entrustment into the hands of God who does not abandon us; in this way it can serve as a moment of growth in faith and love." "Even death is illumined and can be experienced as the ultimate call to faith, the ultimate "Go forth from your land"(Gen 1:12)" (56). Persons who suffer have been sometimes extraordinary mediators of light, as Francis of Assisi saw his light of faith from a person with leprosy and Mother Teresa found her light from the poor and dying.(57) "Faith is not a light that scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey" says the encyclical bringing out the aspects of the accompanying presence of God with us and the ray of hope that faith offers at the service of common good. We can hear the voice of Pope Francis distinctly when we read those lines which address us saying, "Let us refuse to be robbed of hope, or to allow our hope be dimmed by facile answers and solutions which block our progress" (57).

Ending with the note of hope the encyclical earns itself the image of a beacon that guides a Christian today, in his or her life of faith, to walk one's journey with courage and optimism amidst the shadows that befall the times. (to be continued...)

WORD 2day

12th July, 2013

Enduring till the end is the test of the strength of one's faith. Israel(Jacob) today expresses that great satisfaction in having endured till the end, on seeing Joseph alive..."Now let me die!" - a sense of fulfillment! As later we would hear Simeon exclaiming in the Temple of Jerusalem on seeing the child Jesus, "At last all powerful Master, let your servant go in peace. For, my eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for the nations!" Jesus teaches the same to us his followers, "the one who endures till the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22). Endurance that Jesus demands is for two reasons - first, because all the troubles that a follower of Christ faces is for such a noble purpose, a cause so great, that anything can be given up for its sake - the Reign of God on earth. Seek first the Reign of God... even if you have to give up your home, your dear ones, your belongings or even your life, for you will be rewarded hundred percent, says the Lord, here on earth and in the eternal life! Secondly, because the mission entrusted to us is so vast and so immense that these troubles can measure no where in comparison to it. He says with a tinge of humour, even if you have to run from one town to the other due to persecutions, "you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes." Such was the determination of the early Christians and the Apostles who led them from the fore. To proclaim through our daily lives the Reign of God and if we have to face hard consequences for it, to be prepared to endure it all the way - that is the call for me today. 

LUMEN FIDEI - V

I delivered to you what I also received

Chapter 3: Article 37 - 49.

The Chapter invites us to understand the need for handing on faith from one to the other and underlines the element of a shared faith, picturing to us the role and the function of the Church, as the Mother of our faith. Infact, that is the subtitle of the section that begins this chapter saying, "since faith is hearing and seeing, it is also handed on as word and light"(37). A simple but profound image is given to us to understand this fact, from the Easter Liturgy where hundreds of small candles are lit from the One Paschal Candle, and the light is passed on from one candle to the other! Because faith is born of an encounter which takes place in history and lights up our journey through time, it must be passed on in every age(38), states the encyclical. Passing on is such an important element in our human life, for our knowledge and self awareness itself is linked to the others who have gone before us, to begin with those in the prime place - our parents! In the same way, when it comes to our faith, it is the Church, the mother, who teaches us to speak the language of faith (38). This relationship between faith and Church can be understood from various terms, such as Tradition, Shared experience, handing on, communication etc.

Those who believe are never alone; faith is always shared and it tends to be spread; it invites others to share in its joy (39). "Faith needs a setting in which it can be witnessed to and communicated, a means which is suitable and proportionate to what is communicated"(40). Faith and memory are related and the Church like a family passes on the store of memories! Of the means that the Church has to play this function, the first and foremost is, Tradition, which comprises of "everything that serves to make the people of God live their lives in holiness and increase their faith" (40). 

Another prominent means is the Sacraments which are special means of passing on faith - they communicate "incarnate memory, linked to the times and places of our lives, linked to all our senses"(40). Baptism, gives new context and a new environment and through them a new life. One cannot give baptism to oneself, it is something received. The communal nature of Baptism is brought out in the elements like the Trinity, in whose name baptism is carried out - the filial identity granted by God, who is a communion; the Water, which at one and the same time symbolises death and the eventual rise to new life. It epitomises the womb from where one is born to new life (41-42). Baptism is a rebirth that gives one a new life, a new name. It is important that we see the significance of the infant baptism here, for "faith is a reality lived within the community of the church; part of a common 'We'"(43).

The Sacramental character of faith finds its highest expression in the Eucharist. Eucharist is a precious nourishment for faith: an encounter with Christ truly present in the supreme act of his love, the self-giving gift of himself (44). There are two dimensions of faith that we can find intersecting in the Sacrament of the Eucharist - One, the dimension of history - as an act of remembrance, making present the mystery of the past; second, the dimension of being led from the visible world to the invisible world! (44) The Celebration of the Sacraments bring together, faith and memory! For a specific instance, the Creed that is professed with its Trinitarian Structure, the Christological Confession and the Fellowship Factor, brings into picture the collective memory that signifies a "new life of faith as a journey of Communion with the living God"(45). 

Faith, Prayer and Decalogue is the following section that highlights the other shared elements of our communitarian faith - The Lord's Prayer, which is a way of sharing Christ's own Spiritual experience and the Decalogue, which gives "concrete directions for emerging from the desert of the selfish and self enclosed ego in order to enter into dialogue with God, to be embraced by his mercy and to bring that mercy to others" (46). Thus, the profession of faith, the celebration of the sacraments, the path of the ten commandments and prayer - are the 4 elements of the memory that the Church hands down; notice here that these are the very four traditional formats in which the Catechism of the Catholic Church proceeds (46).  

The final point that the section makes is about the Unity and Integrity of Faith - as expressed by the words of Paul in Eph 4:4-5- one faith, one body, one spirit, one baptism, one Lord! The society today rules any acceptance of one truth, as a breach of freedom of expression or autonomy of the self, while paradoxically it is ready to unite for one cause or one issue! Disregarding this bias, the Church affirms that Faith is one, because of the oneness of God, the One Lord Jesus, and the one body and one spirit which shares that faith (47). Since Faith is one, it has to be professed in all its purity and integrity (48); choosing some aspects and leaving out some is no Faith! Apostolic Succession (49), which is the gift of Christ to the Church, guarantees this oneness of faith and the integrity of truth.

In short the Chapter brings out the fact of the Church as the subject who has and expresses the faith, as a response to the self-revealing God who has changed the lives of the persons forming part of it, called them and constituted them into one body, one spirit, in the one Lord Jesus Christ.  

The question that remains to be treated is, what would be the practical import of this faith in the concrete life in today's world. The next chapter would begin to analyse this question (to be continued...).

WORD 2day

11th July, 2013

The theme of yesterday continues still - Being sent, and sent on a mission! Joseph is considered the closest 'prefigurement' of Jesus in the Old Testament. Notice in his life the situations that change - from a predilected son to a slave, from a slave to a prisoner, but from a prisoner to the highest of the officials and there established as the one who would save his own kith and kin from famine! Is it not the same with Jesus, as St. Paul describes in his letter to the Philippians (chapter 2): from Son of God to a human being and a slave; from a slave to death and that on the Cross; but from the Cross raised to be the highest of all names to which every one on earth and heaven shall bend their knees; and there established as Lord he saved us, his brothers and sisters and reconciles us to God our Father and Mother. As Joseph notes in the last verse of the first reading today, "it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you", it was with a mission that Jesus was sent to us and it is with a mission that Jesus sends us today - he says to each of us: "As the father sent me, so I send you"(Jn 20:21). Each of us is sent! The mission as we said yesterday, we have to discover in our personal lives and when we do discover we will understand that it is at one and the same time a privilege and a responsibility, an honour and a challenge. But if we do not manage to discover it, we would have wasted our life, its significance and its purpose!

LUMEN FIDEI - IV

Unless you believe, you will not understand

Chapter 2 : Articles 23 - 36.

The subject matter gets denser here! But let's not lose heart or despair... proceed reading and absorb the crux of the second chapter.

The first section of the chapter, Faith and Truth, begins with a reflection on an incident in the life of King Ahaz who decides to seek the security of the support or protection of the great Assyrian empire and Prophet Isaiah warns him not to. The Prophet directs the king to trust only in God, the rock of Israel. The prophet challenges the king to understand the Lord's ways and to see in God's plan the faithfulness of God (23). The lesson for us: "we need knowledge, we need truth, because without these we cannot stand firm, we cannot move forward" (24). Faith without truth becomes a mere sentiment. 

Today truth is either absolutised to convenient concepts by Pragmatism, Scientism, Technologism and their sorts or reduced to subjectivity by Relativism. Consequently, the ultimate truth that is sought or the Question of God becomes IRRELEVANT, leading thus to fanaticism (25). Faith shows the right way of understanding truth. As St. Paul asserts in Rom 10:10, one believes with the heart. It is at the meeting point of faith and the heart(love) that true knowledge is born. "Faith's understanding is born when we receive the immense love of God which transforms us inwardly and enables us to see reality with new eyes" (26). Speaking of love in relation to faith requires that we do not lose sight of the fact that love can never be reduced to a mere ephemeral emotion. Only to the extent that love is grounded in truth can it endure over time, can it transcend the passing moment and be sufficiently solid to sustain a shared journey of persons. In short, love and truth are inseparable (27). It is in appreciation of the love that God had for them, that the people of Israel understood the overall unity of the divine plan (28).

Faith as hearing and sight, is the following section that takes the discussion further into the realms of philosophy. It begins with St. Paul's logic that Faith comes from hearing (Rom 10:17) and that the freedom to hear, acknowledge and respond to the voice is expressed in 'obedience of faith'(Rom 1:5). While the Greek categories would contrast hearing and seeing, the Old Testament Biblical categories combine them! Hearing God's voice is accompanied by a desire to see God's face(29). In the New Testament, Gospel of John brings these together in a beautiful synthesis stating that, to believe is to both hear and see - recognising the voice of the Good Shepherd (10:3-5) and seeing what God does and believing in God (11:45); for John believing is to see (11:40) and to see is on order to believe (20:8). The finest synthesis between hearing and seeing, is achieved in the faith in Christ, the word made flesh (1:14)- the spoken word that gets to be seen and believed!(30) The encyclical quotes Augustine to bring the synthesis to the next level that to believe involves also, touch. St. Augustine's words: "to touch him with our hearts: that is what it means to believe"(31).

The Dialogue between Faith and Reason, has been initiated right in the beginning at the moment of the historical encounter of the Gospel message with the Greek philosophical culture of the ancient world (32). The light and the word, as two beckoning forces that summons response from a person in his or her freedom - the former is related to seeing and the latter to hearing. St. Augustine in his earlier philosophical mindset gave importance to seeing whereas in the later he came to understand the truth that these both are to be taken together and he speaks of "word which shines forth within" (33). Philosophically, truth does not lie in subjectivity nor in totalitarianism, but in the point where one realises that truth humbles, that it sets one on a journey, that it enables witness and dialogue (34).

Faith and search for God, are related to each other especially when we acknowledge the fact that our God, is a "God of perpetual surprises"(35). "The more Christians immerse themselves in the circle of Christ's light, the more capable they become of understanding and accompanying the path of every man and woman towards God" (35). Hence dialogue with other religions is enabled by the very light of faith in Jesus and arises from the conviction that God who is light can be found by anyone "who seeks him with a sincere heart"(35).

Faith and Theology, are intrinsically related. Christian theology is born of the desire to explore more and more the horizons illumined by the light of faith. Theology, at one and the same time, is at the service of faith and draws life from faith. It is at the service of faith in as much as it protects and deepens the faith of the ordinary persons and it draws life from faith when it presents the Magisterium, as the source and collective expression of our faith. 

Looking at faith from various standpoints and providing an enlarged picture from where to understand our faith and its fundamental relationship to every other facet of Christian life, the encyclical would proceed in the next chapter to present to us the important truth that faith is not only to be understood; it is to be proclaimed. (to be contd...)

WORD 2day

10th July, 2013

The naming of the Apostles - with a function given to them: to chase the evil spirits and to heal the sick! Apostles are those who are 'sent' (literally too, 'apostolos' in Greek); sent in the name of God with a specific mission. Joseph of the Old Testament, was an apostle too - sent ahead by God to Egypt in order to provide for God's people at a later time! Providing was yet another important mission of God. So, providing for God's people, liberating them from the ungodly forces and giving them a life in all its fullness - those are the duties of an apostle, on behalf of the Lord who sends him or her. And all these carried out for one purpose to make present the Reign of God amidst the people here and now! Jesus had a big following, that is, his disciples and from them he sends these 'Apostles'; we are among his disciples already by our Baptism and he wants to send each of us with a specific mission. And each of us sent, exactly to where we are - to our homes, to our neighbourhoods, to our parishes, to our societies... to establish the Reign of God, that is, to assure the needs of all, to stand by the neglected and guarantee them their rights, to stand against the ungodly forces, the unjust systems, the corrupt and inhuman dominations, to empower the people towards a peaceful, serene and human existence. When Pope Francis calls the Church to "take to the streets of the world" and to "reach the very outskirts of existence", he is reminding us our call as 'apostles', and our mission as heralds of the Reign of God. Have I made real efforts to understand my call and my mission as an apostle, right here and right now?

WORD 2day

9th July, 2013

It's puzzling! Among a few puzzling details of the Old Testament is the likes of today's account from Jacob's life. The Lord (!?!) wrestled with Jacob, says the reading today - and elsewhere we see a similar account of God trying to kill Moses (Exo 4:24). Whatever may be the exegesis, the first disclaimer here is not to take these lines literally. There is a symbolic or a interpretative meaning to these happenings! One thing we can guess here is that these men had something really to struggle with, a struggle of life and death! But they stood firm on the side of the Lord who had called them and after that struggle of life and death, there is something remarkable, a change that is radical, a happening that defines history forever. For, Jacob after that struggle comes to be called Israel, a name that would define the People of God forever. Incidentally, Moses after that struggle comes to establish a new covenant with the Lord in the sign of circumcision - again something that would define the People of the Covenant, ever since. Jesus had the same struggle, constantly there were people who followed him as there were the others who tried their best to demonise him (Mt 9:34). The struggle went on right till the cross - the struggle of life and death, but he stood by the Father who had sent him. And after that struggle, he was not anymore merely Jesus, but Jesus the Christ; there came the event that changed the World for ever, it changed the history not only of the world but of you and me! Today we are saved, in his struggle, in his death, in his wounds, in  his blood and in his Resurrection! The question to me is - how ready and willing am I for a struggle?