OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
No Room for Death
There is not room for death
Nor atom that his might would render void:
Thou – Thou art Being and Breath
And what Thou art may never be destroyed.– Emily Bronte
Rest Silently in Resurrection
Those who do not know there is another life after this one, or who cannot bring themselves to live in time as if they were meant to spend their eternity in God, resist the fruitful silence of their own being by continual noise. Even when their own tongues are still, their minds chatter without end and without meaning, or they plunge themselves into the protective noise of machines, traffic or radios. When their own noise is momentarily exhausted, they rest in the noise of other people.
– Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
Resurrection and Touching the Mystery of Life
There is a certain fear of death that comes from not having lived yet. I had to face it myself when I had cancer a few years ago. I don’t think I was afraid of death at that time, but I also knew I had already lived. Once you know you have touched upon this mystery of life, you are not afraid of death. There is an existential terror about losing what you’ve never found. Something in me says, “I haven’t done ‘it’ yet.” I haven’t experienced the stream of life yet. I haven’t touched the real, the good, the true, and the beautiful—which is, of course, what we were created for.
– Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs
What Is Resurrection Living?
Christian spirituality means eating together, sharing together, drinking together, talking with each other, receiving each other, experiencing God’s presence through each other, and in doing so, proclaiming the gospel as God’s alternative vision for everyone.
– Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza
Enter Into a New Reality – Enter Into Resurrection
You never change things by fighting existing reality. To change something, build a new reality that makes the existing reality obsolete.
– R. Buckminster Fuller
Resurrection – The Great Turning
Cosmic change is not cosmetic change. It is radical, meaning ‘to the root,’ and it will mean the upheaval of our cherished customs and the disposal of stories that have provided the basic framework for our lives. We must not underestimate the enormity of what is being asked of us, even as we celebrate with joy the new and salvific. In its initial moments resurrection is indistinguishable from death. At first we are unable to see the great turning that has taken place. All that has been comfortable, all that has held us in place is gone, and there is nothing recognizable to stand on. Everything on which we have planted our feet is swept away.
– Judy Cannato
Easter – The Promise of Resurrection
Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.
– Martin Luther
In the Darkness of the Tomb, there Is Still Hope
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.
– Anne Lamont
Good Friday Hope
Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.
– George Iles
Prayer Is an Act of Hope – An Act of Faith
A Holy Thursday Prayer
Pray, even if you feel nothing, see nothing. For when you are dry, empty, sick or weak, at such a time is your prayer most pleasing to God, even though you may find little joy in it. This is true of all believing prayer.
– Julian of Norwich
OPreach 