HAPPY EASTER!
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| HE IS RISEN, ALLELUIA! |
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| IT'S BACK!!! |
Queue the greatest hero in history and the great celebration that commemorates what He did for us: Jesus Christ and Easter. How fitting that My Hero Academia, a show about super heroes, returns during Easter, a time of celebration over the greatest hero ever.
Easter is the crown jewel of our Lenten journeys. The Lenten season builds up to and climaxes in the Easter Tridium. Then the Easter octave begins, 8 days of Easter. EIGHT. DAYS. That is how big the Easter celebration is! But it doesn't end after that. Then we enter into the Easter Season. This was a time that the disciples rejoiced and stayed close to the Resurrected Lord Jesus. They saw Him in all His glory, ate with him, broke bread with him. How wonderful, how joyful! But what happens after?
The crown jewel, the summit, the climax of the Easter Season is Pentecost. This is a time when the disciples were filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit; they literally became super heroes. THAT is what happened to us at our Confirmations. We became super heroes... ok maybe more accurately, we gained the ability to become heroic, but many of us did not realize that. At our Confirmations, Jesus says to us:
"You can become a hero." So I ask you again, what does it mean to be a hero?
In episode 2 before All Might tells Izuku he can become a hero, All Might says all heroes have one thing in common: "their bodies moved before they had a chance to think". I thought that to be interesting because most heroes are recognized by their impulsive reaction to evil: fight the evil, save the citizens. But if we are called to become heroic, what action do we take before we have the chance to think?
There are a whole bunch of things that we could think of that would be worthy of a Catholic hero, but let me bring up just one: prayer. Prayer is one of the most heroic actions we can do. Prayer? I mean sure, but isn't that just me talking to myself sometimes, or just some wishful thinking? What can prayer really accomplish?
The Power of Prayer
Let me start with this. The greatest super hero ever prayed. That's right, even Jesus prayed! (Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Mark 6:46, Luke 9:18, Hebrews 5:7, etc.).
Now you might be wondering, what kind of things did Jesus pray for? Well, He prayed for all sorts of things!
-In Matthew 19:13-15, Jesus lays hands and prays for children
-In Luke 22: 31-34, Jesus prays for Peter's faith to be strengthened
-In Mark 14:36, Jesus says a very powerful prayer: "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me, yet not what I will but what thou wilt"
But Alphonse, that's Jesus praying. I mean He's Jesus, and well, I'm not. What good will MY praying do?
"For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move hence to yonder place,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." -Matthew 17:20-21
Prayer will strengthen your faith, and your faith will make nothing impossible to you. That is the power of prayer.
Now before, I get flack like, "Oh Alphonse, but I can't fly," or "I can't be in multiple places at one" (St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Padre Pio), nothing being made impossible does not mean that God will allow all things to be done at our disposal, at our will, and for our own desires. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." -Ecclesiastes 3:1 (this is a verse often for funerals but it's applicable here). God will accomplish what He wants, when He wants. The question is will you be ready?
I encourage you, in the midst of your joy, celebration, and jubilee, to pray. Enter deeply into prayer and see what the Father has for you.
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| Welcome back Deku-san |
...And with that may God be praised!
P.S. I will probably be making a part 2 about prayer, stay tuned!
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