Death and Resurrection

The second reading at Mass a few weeks ago struck me. In the first few lines, St. Paul writes:

Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us,

once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;

therefore, all have died.

When I heard this read aloud at Mass, my brow furrowed. Ah, yes, I thought. There's that Christian joy we desire. We have all died. However, we know as Christians that Christ has conquered death. Why, then, is it necessary for us to die as well? 

You see, we do not die in addition to Christ, but alongside Him, united in His sufferings so that we may be raised from the dead as He was. This is directly related to our participation in the Eucharist. 

Not Yet Home

This is not how it's supposed to be, I thought to myself as I processed the latest unfortunate news, still shaking sleep from my eyes as I plodded down the hallway from my bedroom. 

This is not how it's supposed to be.
Pain.
Worry.
Fear.
Loss.
Evil.
All of these were not meant for us. Man was not made for destruction. Man was made for life. 

We all know the unfortunate story: Adam and Eve, our first parents, disobeyed God. Sin entered the world. 

The devil brought death into our world, a world unstained by sin and in which man lived as he was meant to live--in perfect communion with God. Death is not of the Lord; it is of the devil. Satan cannot create life, and therefore, in his jealousy, he seeks to attack it. From The Catholic Gentleman: 

Only God can truly create. Satan cannot. And Satan hates this fact. He is sterile in every sense of the word. He hates the Trinity because he envies its life giving and creative power...