Choose a topic from Part 3a:
1. Aristotle says (Metaph. iv): "Whatever isthe first in any order, is the cause of what comes after it."The Resurrection of Christ was first in the order of rising fromthe dead: "The first fruits of them that sleep" (I Cor.15:20). Christ's Resurrection is thus the cause of our bodilyresurrection which will take place on the last day.
2. Christ's Resurrection is also the cause of theresurrection of our souls from the death of sin. The divine powerwhich appears in the bodily Resurrection of Christ extends to humansouls. St. Paul (Rom. 4:25) says that our Lord "rose again forour justification." And again he says (Rom. 6:4): "Christis risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also maywalk in newness of life."
"It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. When you are relieved of the burden you are close to yourself, your own weakness; for virtue and strength of soul grow and are confirmed in the trials of patience."
St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church
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"For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God?"
Thomas á Kempis
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"It is well to choose some one good devotion, and to stick to it, and never to abandon it."
St Philip Neri
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