"The Working of Miracles"

In this final episode of the Fourth Season of the "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts,  we examine a method of contemplative prayer that can help us come to a greater awareness of the reality of Christ’s resurrected life that lives within us. I  draw on Part Two of our book, "Living Resurrected Lives," which was written by my daughter, Dr. Eva Natanya. Eva is a theologian, a scholar, translator, writer, teacher, spiritual director, and a dedicated contemplative.

As Eva points out, the spiritual logic is simple. If we have any hope of coming to live a resurrected life, we must do our part in developing an ever more intimate relationship with the Lord, the very one in whose resurrected life we wish to share. If we can recognize that all our current problems are ultimately a result of our deep-seated spiritual blindness, then we must gradually learn to see ourselves and each other with "the mind of Christ." If all the negativity that festers within our subconscious and causes us to harm others, even in the slightest way, is a result of our failing to understand how and by whom reality is created in every moment, then we must strive to discover the supreme reason for loving our neighbor as ourselves. And this discovery can only be made in the silent depths of our own hearts.

Thus it is imperative that we learn to meditate in a steady flow in order to gain the capacity to understand something that was always within, but that previously we were unable to recognize: Divine Awareness. And if we wish to break through to this Divine Awareness, to glimpse the true source of all things, then we must make contemplative practice our first priority, every day. With Eva's guidance, we discuss how to create a sacred space for meditation, how to choose a comfortable meditation posture, and most importantly, how to acquire a mind-body equilibrium that is essential if we are to experience the transformative reality of the resurrected Christ.  As Eva writes, this is the goal of our lives: "to prepare for what Christ has always been preparing for us. And for which he begs us to be ready."

PLEASE SHARE this essential podcast with your family and friends who may be seeking a spiritual practice that can lead them beyond their pain, suffering, and fear, and offer hope that the divine process of transformation into our resurrected minds and bodies is already happening, here and now. Easter blessings to all!

NOTE: This series of podcasts is based on themes from my award-winning book, "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD (Cascade Books, 2020).

During this first week of the Easter Season, today's "Life, Love, & Light" podcast  examines how we might actually begin to live resurrected lives -- even now -- amidst our sorrows, sufferings, questions, worries, and fears. This is what Christ's resurrection calls us to do.

You may ask: Why should we? Why does it matter?  Because, one day – whether we like it or not -- we will be hit with the stark realization that we are going to die. A medical diagnosis, a near-fatal accident, the passing of someone we love: any one of these may bring home the full reality of our own death. It will also make us aware that unless the full scope of what it means to be resurrected among the saints becomes the primary focal point of our life as Christians, the idea of eternal life as supremely blissful will remain only a faint and even foolhardy wish.  So we must dare to embark on living now in anticipation of the reality that we hope awaits us.

We consider how we might actively prepare for a resurrected life in heaven through the life we live on earth. We  examine the essential virtues of a living faith, a daring hope, a radical love, and a total trust in the fact of Christ's resurrection and the promise of our own.  And we recognize that to live a resurrected life here and now means choosing a life of service in imitation of Christ. In all things, we seek to gain "the mind of Christ" and to say with St. Paul: “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

NOTE: This series of podcasts is based on themes from my award-winning book, "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD (Cascade Books, 2020).

PLEASE SHARE these podcasts with your family and friends who may be in need of hope during  these troubled times. May you be filled with Easter blessings and great joy in the reality of Christ's  resurrection!

In this week's episode of "Life, Love, & Light," we continue to explore how personal identity might be sustained after death and bodily decomposition. We consider the twenty-one qualities of Wisdom (Greek, Sophia) and the transformative process by which our minds are purified and transformed by the graced energy of the Holy Spirit. In both the Eastern Orthodox and Western Christian traditions, this process of radical transformation is called divinization (Greek, theosis)—that is, “becoming divine.” By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are given new eyes of wisdom and new hearts of compassionate love.  And this power is what effects our ultimate transformation.

We question: How would a mind that is transformed by the death process and infused by Divine Wisdom become capable of experiencing the infinite and subtle potentialities of matter in a resurrected body?  And how might such a body accurately reflect the glorification of that transformed mind?

Finally, we discuss various methods of actually perceiving Divine Wisdom at the core of our being -- through contemplative prayer. And we realize that it is Divine Wisdom within us -- the "Christic Mind" -- that alone will carry our personal identity through death into the vision of God.

NOTE: This series of podcasts is based on themes from my award-winning book, "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD (Cascade Books, 2020).

PLEASE SHARE these podcasts with your family and friends who may be searching for answers about bodily resurrection. May your Holy Week be rich in blessings and Christ's resurrection on Easter fill you with joy and renewed hope!

This week's podcast of "Life, Love, & Light" examines the writings of Augustine and Aquinas on the nature of the resurrected body. The Augustinian doctrine of resurrection focused on  the necessity of divine reconstruction by God of every aspect of the body parts, rather than the Pauline metaphor of the seed in the ground that centered on a radical transformation. Inevitably, because of the wide dissemination of Augustine’s writings, his staunchly physical interpretation of Paul’s “spiritual body” became the standard Western view of eschatology.

As we discused in the previous podcast, generations of early apologists had linked personal identity with the “material bits” of the body. All these "bits" would have to be gathered up by God and reconstructed into the resurrected body, otherwise it would not be the same person who had died. Ancient theologians were convinced that if all the matter of an individual corpse were not resurrected intact, the identity of the person would be irrevocably lost. But they could not explain how  the unique person could survive when the body was corrupted by death and decay.

Aquinas broke with the ancient tradition. He employed Aristotle’s metaphysical view that every being is a composite of two principles—primary matter and substantial form. Even though Aquinas still held that God would reassemble all the particles of the corpse in resurrection, he did not ascribe personal identity to the physical matter of the body. Rather, Aquinas (like Origen before him ) located identity in the substantial form of the body: that is, in the rational soul. It was the soul that made a being to be what it is. This approach by so distinguished a scholastic theologian as Aquinas, was an important breakthrough.

We consider the qualities of the glorified body, according to Aquinas, and question why it is we cannot imagine either a resurrected body or a resurrected mind.

NOTE: This series of podcasts is based on themes from my award-winning book, "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD (Cascade Books, 2020).

PLEASE SHARE these podcasts with your family and friends who may have serious questions about bodily resurrection. Blessings to all!

In this week's "Life, Love, & Light" podcast, we recognize that Paul’s idea of a transformed spiritual body never addressed whether every single atom of the corrupted corpse would have to be reassembled by God to form a resurrected body. Nor did Paul discuss how the soul might continue to exist while separated from the body during the interim period after death and before resurrection. Furthermore, Paul did not specifically define where the singular identity of the human person lay. Was it inherent in the putrefied flesh? The liberated soul? The infused spirit? Or the resurrected body/soul/spirit unity of the whole person?

We examine various theories on the resurrected body developed by ancient theologians Irenaeus and Tertullian, seeking to grasp their concept of a body that will be reconstructed by God from bits and pieces of decayed and organic matter scattered over millenia.  We discuss the inconsistencies of their approach as compared with a modern scientific understanding of mattter. And with the philosopher and theologian Origen, we explore the thorny problem of Identity: How does personal identity remain stable when the physical matter of the body is corrupted? 

In order to be able to separate, gently and with discernment, the core teaching of Christian revelation from the complex theories of resurrection that were developed in answer to particular questions and controversies through the course of history, we must examine this history, however briefly. Then -- grounded in a richer context -- we may more confidently explore new ways of thinking about bodily resurrection that might make more sense to us in our current cultural environments. These explorations may also resonate  more meaningfully with our own innermost spiritual longing and desire for transcendence.

NOTE: This series of podcasts is based on themes from my award-winning book, "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD (Cascade Books, 2020).
PLEASE SHARE these podcasts with your family and friends who may have serious questions about bodily resurrection. Blessings to all!

In this week's "Life, Love, & Light" podcast, we continue delving into Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians and examine the difference between the archetype of a human being -- namely Adam -- who came from the earth, and Jesus Christ, who came from heaven. We discuss in detail Paul’s glorious teachings on the “spiritual body.” For Paul, the spiritual body defines the transformed human person who has died completely to sin and lives in the resurrected glory of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. This resurrected, divinized spiritual body is the fully actualized human person, clothed in a transformed physicality, animated through and through by the Spirit of God, the heart of divine love.
We also hear Paul's exhortation to hope in his Letter to the Galations: "let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up." The apostle is insistent that the work of the Lord we do every day will have a direct correlation to the eternal gifts we will receive in the consummation and recreation of the world. And in his Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds us that faith in resurrection is the ground of hope: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor 4:8–11).
By examining Paul's luminous teachings, we realize that faith and hope in resurrection give meaning—eternal meaning—to even the smallest of our efforts. We know that nothing will be forgotten. Everything—joys, sorrows, losses, disappointments, rejections, physical and emotional suffering of every kind— will be transformed into eternal glory by the power of Christ's death and resurrection. At this critical time of war, incomprehensible devastation, and tragic death in our world, these teachings are essential for our spiritual lives.
 
NOTE: This series of podcasts is based on themes from my award-winning book, "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD (Cascade Books, 2020).
PLEASE SHARE these "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts with your family and friends.
Blessings to all! 

In this week's episode of "Life, Love, & Light," we examine the teachings of St. Paul on the  resurrected body. In his letters to the Corinthians and Galatians, Paul dealt with issues concerning the resurrection that are still being debated today: Was Jesus resurrected bodily? Will our own bodies be resurrected? If so, what kind of body will it be: physical or spiritual?  Paul used both vigorous argument and evocative metaphor to make the concept of bodily resurrection abundantly clear for the newly converted Greeks . . . and indeed, for generations to come.
We reflect on Paul's  faithful proclamation of the teachings he received from the apostles in his First Letter to the Corinthians. We examine the strong resistance, even rebellion, of the Corinthians to Paul's preaching on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hear Paul answering the objections of the Corinthians with a stinging deconstruction of their arguments. And we delve into Paul's understanding of Christ's resurrection as the "first fruits" of our own. Finally, we examine Paul's elucidation of the difference between the "natural" body in which we live now and the "spiritual" body we will receive in resurrection.

This series of podcasts is based on themes from my award-winning book, "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD (Cascade Books, 2020). PLEASE SHARE these podcasts on resurrection with those you know who may be seeking  a source of renewed hope, encouragement, and confidence that in spite of all the suffering and death we see in the world, no one dies forever. Blessings to all!

In this week's episode of "Life, Love, & Light"  podcasts, we investigate more "alternate theories" that have been raised by some modern and postmodern theologians and scholars who consider the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to have been brought on by "altered states of consciousness."  Were these appearances merely visions induced by wishful thinking? Or personal hallucinations? Or mass hallucinations experienced at the same time and in the same place by all the disciples? Or a mass ecstasy? Did Peter experience a psychotic delusion that, by a chain reaction, resulted in a group fantasy? And was the Apostle Paul also the victim of "chain reaction hysteria"?

Why must we consider these objections? Because it is crucial that we understand the arguments and the flaws in these various theories so that when the bedrock foundation of resurrection belief is challenged, we are able to answer objections with clarity and conviction. And perhaps, when we ourselves question Christian faith in bodily resurrection, we need to be very clear and completely certain that the ancient Creed – “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting” – really does mean what it says.

Especially in a time of ongoing pandemic, a brutal war, and the inconceivable suffering and death of soldiers and civilians, as well as the desperation of millions of fleeing refugees, we need the reality of Christ’s resurrection to reassure us every hour of every day that nothing we undergo will be lost – all our sufferings are being taken up into Christ’s own sufferings on the cross. And all are being transformed and glorified in the fullness of Christ’s resurrection . . .  and eventually, our own. Without that grounding in resurrection faith, we may lose hope. Thus we must continually deepen our faith in the truth of Christ's bodily resurrection so that we live in its redemptive reality and find our peace in its promise – even amidst the crises of our daily lives.

I dedicate these podcasts to all the brave Ukrainians who are fighting for their freedom and their country against tyranny and invasion. May the Risen Christ be with them!

In this week's episode of "Life, Love, & Light," we discuss the epilogue to the gospel of John, in which the Risen Jesus appears to seven disciples as they return from a frustrating night of fishing on Lake Tiberias. This resurrection appearance includes another miraculous catch of fish, a breakfast with Jesus on the beach, and a poignant conversation between the Lord and Peter, in which the disciple who denied Jesus three times is given the opportunity to affirm his love three times.
Then we examine repeated attempts at "alternative interpretations" of all Christ's appearances that have challenged faith in his bodily resurrection. Most Christians probably do believe that Jesus really died, that his tomb was empty, and that he came back to life. But how many Christians have really considered in what way  he came back to life? Was it a resuscitation, only a spiritual resurrection of his soul, or a vision of a different Jesus altogether? Are the resurrection appearances merely pious legends or pre-scientific myths? Did the disciples truly believe that Jesus had risen in a glorified body? Or did they  simply "feel" the continuing presence of the Lord in their midst? Does the New Testament language of the evangelists and of Paul really mean what it says? Or was the crucial "resurrection" event what happened to the disciples and not what happened to Jesus at all? Or does Jesus only live on in the salvific  preaching of the church? We delve into these and other modern and postmodern interpretations and then consider the earliest creedal formulations in the four gospels, in the letters of St. Paul, and in the Acts of the Apostles to discover the bedrock of our faith: What Christ's Resurrection really means. Blessings to all!

Please Note: This fourth season of podcasts is drawn from my book "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya PhD. It won a 2021 Catholic Media Association Book Award for Contemporary Spirituality and is available from the publisher, Wipf & Stock, and from Amazon worldwide: https://smile.amazon.com/Living-Resurrected-Lives-Means-Matters/dp/1725253240/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1645836812&sr=8-2

In this week's episode of the "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts, we go in depth to examine the stories of Christ's resurrection appearances:  to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in the gospel of Matthew; to Magdalene alone in the gospel of John; and to the two disciples, possibly husband and wife, on the road to Emmaus in the gospel of Luke. We realize that the weeping and disconsolate Magdalene did not recognize Jesus in the garden until he "called her name" and that the two disciples only recognized that the Stranger on the road was Jesus  in "the breaking of the bread." We realize how imperative it is for us to recognize Jesus when he calls our own name in deep prayer (or through the loving voice of someone else), and when we  hear him speak to us through Scripture and receive him in Eucharistic fellowship. We consider that we must grow more and more consciously aware that Jesus walks along the road of our lives with us and within us, with every step we take. We also examine the two different stories, in Luke and John, of Jesus' appearances to the disciples and their companions in the Upper Room. And finally, we enter into the story of the doubting disciple, Thomas.  In reflecting on this scene, we  ask: Did Thomas believe that Jesus was truly God (and therefore could rise from the dead) because he saw him . . . or was he empowered to see who Jesus actually was because he came to believe in him?
All the stories of the resurrection appearances were written to enliven and strengthen the faith of the community of early Christians who were enduring great trials and for Christians who would believe and suffer throughout time. Indeed, we are enduring great trials right now. But we also see signs of resurrection because good people everywhere are responding so generously to the crises in our world. As in the gospels, these signs are meant to encourage us as well. These signs bear a message of light, hope, and courage: no matter how dire things get, because Christ is resurrected, he has overcome suffering, death, and everything else that could destroy us.
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