"Life, Love, & Light" with Veronica Mary Rolf Veronica Mary Rolf

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 the Fourth Season of Life, Love, & Light podcasts, we delve into the all-important but rarely discussed topic of Resurrection, based on my recent award winning book, Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters, co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD. In this first episode -- entitled What is Resurrection? -- we consider ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Hebrew ideas about the afterlife: what it was, what it was not. Then we examine biblical references to life after death in the psalms, prophets, apocalyptic literature, and the Book of Wisdom. In the process, we discover that faith in the resurrection of the body and soul of the whole person to new life after death was based not on human merits or worthiness, but rather on the goodness and steadfastness of Yahweh. Hope in the eventual triumph of divine life over human death was grounded in the certainty that the Creator is all-powerful. What God creates, God can and will redeem and recreate. Sin and death have no hold over Yahweh.
Future podcasts will closely examine the four biblical accounts of Christ's resurrection to discover the bedrock of Christian belief in bodily resurrection. We will also consider how we may begin living resurrected lives even now, as sons and daughters of the resurrection.

Please let your friends know about this new season of Life, Love, & Light podcasts. They are available on Apple, Google, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, and all the major directories as well as on https://lifelovelight.buzzsprout.com/.
At this time of great disharmony, fear, crisis, and suffering in our world, one thing remains certain: The love of God is everlasting. Blessings to all!

In this week's episode of Life, Love, & Light, we examine the four gospel accounts of the discovery of the empty tomb of Jesus Christ by the women. It has long been observed that there are numerous disparities in the empty tomb stories. Unfortunately, for some readers, these variations and inconsistencies have given rise to doubt and even disbelief. Since the four canonical gospels diverge not only in details, but in personal viewpoints, we must delve deeper to discover what was deemed absolutely necessary to convey. To deal with these issues, we ask: What is the historical bedrock of each resurrection story? What is dramatization for effect? What is the elaboration of tradition by the early church? And what is a developing theological understanding of Jesus as the Son of God?
In the process, we discover that the diverse ways of dramatizing the details of the empty tomb story—who saw and heard what and when— matter less than the essential meaning and message of the story itself. The tomb was empty for only one reason: Jesus had risen from the dead. Inconsistencies in the telling do not rule out truthfulness. Some might even say they add to a story’s authenticity. Each eye witness remembered and recounted the experience differently. Each attributed greater or lesser importance to certain aspects of the revelation.  But the women who discovered the empty tomb and all who later saw the risen Jesus contributed in some way to the earliest oral tradition. All were convinced that the Jesus they had known before had now returned from the dead, utterly transformed but entirely recognizable. They knew this to be true because they had seen him with their own eyes. Some inconsistencies may indicate that each evangelist was determined to retell the empty tomb and resurrection story in his own particular way, with his own unique emphasis, articulating his own theological viewpoint. But these “teaching agendas” did not change the essential nature of what had actually happened. On the contrary, the kerygma—that is, the apostolic “proclamation” of teaching about the empty tomb and the risen Christ—was based on the core tradition from which all the gospels were written.
Please register for Notification of these weekly Life, Love, & Light podcasts and share them with your friends who may be seeking greater understanding of what the resurrection means and why it matters. Blessings to all!

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.
PLEASE REGISTER to be notified of these ongoing "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts and SHARE them with your friends who may be in need of encouragement and hope. Blessings to all!

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 "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!