My wife and I enjoyed an unusual Resurrection Sunday last week and I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts about it.
I was a Roman Catholic for twenty-seven years before I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and the Catholic liturgical calendar is one holy day/holiday after another, so I had my fill of that and generally don’t get as hepped up about holidays as many others do. We were also a bit stressed out last weekend. My wife is not feeling well with her scoliosis issues. Then there’s the ongoing COVID-19 situation and all that that entails. The pandemic lockdown mean’t our oldest son and his family wouldn’t be coming over for dinner like they usually do on Resurrection Sunday. On top of that, our 13YO dog, Gracie, was at the emergency veterinary hospital over the weekend and in light of the prognosis, we thought she wasn’t coming back home.* But our God is sovereign over our circumstances and we got the day rolling.
*At 9 a.m., my wife and I sat on the couch together and watched the live stream of our church’s Resurrection Day service, which was a blessing!
*I then sent the “That’s My King” video to our two unsaved sons, which fellow WordPress blogger, Hope, had posted earlier. It’s tough not to stand up and holler for Jesus while watching that video.
*My wife and I joined in on a Zoom call via our iPhones with my three sisters in Naples, Florida, my nephew and his wife in New Orleans, my niece in Arizona, and my cousin in North Carolina.
*I then baked up some fresh biała (not smoked) Polish kielbasa/sausage for dinner. Gotta have kielbasa and horseradish on Resurrection Sunday! (Please don’t tell my primary physician.)
*In the afternoon, my wife asked me to watch her DVD of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” (2004), so we sat and watched that for two hours. For those of you who have never seen the movie, Gibson is a traditionalist Roman Catholic and the movie unabashedly pushes the Catholic view of Mary as “Co-Redemptrix.” Allow me to explain. Not only do Catholics believe Mary was sinless, but many/most Catholic theologians and prelates also believe Mary redeems souls in cooperation with Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict XV stated in 1918:
“She (Mary) suffers with her suffering and dying son, almost as if she would have died herself. For the salvation of mankind, she gave up her rights as the mother of her son and, in a sense, offered Christ’s sacrifice to God the Father as far as she was permitted to do. Therefore, one can say, she redeemed with Christ the human race.”
Past popes hesitated in declaring this popular Co-Redemptrix belief as dogma because they knew it would further alienate Protestants. Pope Francis has publicly stated that he’s not interested in defining the belief as binding dogma.
Anyway, there are several scenes in “The Passion of the Christ” that definitely promote the view of Mary as Co-Redemptrix. I mentioned that to my wife afterwards and she heartily disagreed with me, saying she saw nothing wrong with the way Mary was portrayed. Argh! My wife doesn’t get into the complexities of Catholic theology like I do, so after some fruitless discussion, I determined it was the better part of valor just to drop it. However, I did some googling and found the Catholic article below, which boasts about how “Passion” definitely pushes the view of Mary as Co-Redemptrix with citations of specific scenes:
Gibson’s Passion and Mary Co-Redemptrix | EWTN
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/gibsons-passion-and-mary-coredemptrix-5726
Gibson is coming out with a “Passion” sequel next year about Jesus’s second coming and I’m sure that will also have a Catholic slant. Be discerning my friends.
So, that was my eventful Resurrection Sunday. I hope you had a good one, too! Jesus is risen and He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He’s NOT prostrate on Catholic altars as a consecrated host being offered up as a sacrifice!
Postscript: The androgynous Satan character in “The Passion of the Christ” (portrayed by Italian actress, Rosalinda Celentano) is decidedly creepy (photo top right). The “angel of light” would have people believe he is a hideous ogre while he does his actual work through the friendly smiles (photo bottom right), accommodations, and compromises in the cause of ecumenical unity. I note that the visual clips in the otherwise excellent “That’s My King” video are taken from “The Passion of the Christ” movie. There’s all kinds of leavening going on out there.
*Gracie is now home and doing well.