I OWE these reflections in large measure to Rahner's "Theological Investigations" and to Ratzinger's "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week."

There is, in all of us, a desire for a definitive, lasting state of existence — fulfillment. Often, we use the image of "eternal life," — which is certainly to be distinguished from an indefinite prolongation of our present existence, which would be a dreadful form of condemnation. We are terrified by the prospect of annihilation — simply passing out of existence. There is something in us that yearns for completion-wholeness-fulfillment. That is to say, there is something in us that longs for Resurrection.

To proclaim that Jesus is Risen is to accept the testimony of the Apostles: that they experienced that he had been vindicated by God, that he was not lost in nothingness, that his life had reached fullness and completion in God. If, then, it is in these terms that we think about the Risen Life, then whatever may have been the Easter experiences — visions, physical encounters, exhortations and admonitions — cannot be the main point of the Resurrection. Resurrection means a life accepted by God, vindicated by God, and granted fulfillment and wholeness in God.

So compelling was the experience of the Apostles that it turned them from a timid, fearful band into courageous heralds who carried the message to the ends of the earth. It would have been silly for them to risk the ire of the powerful who made martyrs of them had their experience not been compelling — so compelling that they could never have kept it to themselves.

In Ratzinger's scholarly — but accessible — book, "Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week," he emphasizes two points. The Resurrection does not mean that Jesus returned to the empirical existence that is subject to the law of death. In this respect, it is common theological teaching that the Resurrection of Jesus and the raising of Lazarus are not the same thing, for Lazarus was raised and then resumed the life he had in Bethany until his natural passing. The Risen One, says Ratzinger, lives in fellowship with God beyond the reach of death.

On the other hand, it will not do to reduce the Resurrection to a mystical event — such as the version that holds that apostles were so enamored of Jesus that they had this inexplicable, mystical experience that he was alive. Ratzinger insists that this will not do — and every decent theologian who has not forsaken orthodoxy will agree with Ratzinger. The apostolic experiences were real experiences with the Lord, who is "embodied" in a new way. Jesus is not a spectral apparition from the realm of the dead. He comes from the realm of pure life, from the realm of God.

He is raised — he is risen — to be our hope and our promise!

rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph

rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph

rannie_aquino@outloom.com