Paschal Mystery
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 8:07 AM 
"Christians speak of the "paschal mystery," the process of loss and renewal that was lived and personified in the death and raising up of Jesus." --Richard Rohr
Welcome back. So, I am a little freaked out right now, because I read the above words from a morning reading AFTER I spent my quiet time alone this morning and wrote the following (unedited):
Trust. Trust you will be held with your strong hands and mine too. Trust the process. Unfinished. We wound and we are wounded. We are never healed, but always healing if we allow ourselves to heal--to trust we will go up and down and all around. Wounding. Wounded. We wound because we are human. We heal because we are made in God's image. Healed from the tomb. Nailed to the cross and risen again.
I have been nailed to the cross time and time again. Wounded and wounding. Healing. An unfinished woman. We are moving forward. Gratitude. The healing that continues to take place in me. The woundedness and the healing. Momentarily healed, but then a new wound appears or maybe a very old one we were unaware of. We have the opportunity to receive grace and heal again. Some wounds heal quickly and some are deep and leave scars that are like gouges to our soul, but our soul survives. No matter what, the light cannot be extinguished.
Wounded and healing. Loss and renewal. Is this the "paschal mystery" of which I write? What does healing and wounding look like for you? I'd love to know your thoughts. It is a mystery to me...a paschal mystery, perhaps ☺. (By the way--I do not recall ever hearing the term paschal mystery before this morning. hmmmmm....)
Lent, Paris photos
Reader Comments (12)
Welcome back to you, too. I am familiar with the term paschal mystery, but have never really given it much thought (as a term I mean). I think maybe it's more common with us Papists?
On the question of wounded and healing, to me there's a symbolism in the natural world, as the wheel of the year turns, and turns again. But even in the growing times like Spring, there are still cold days, and there can be brilliant light even in the middle of winter.
I'm so pleased Rohr is speaking to you.
Lucy,
Welcome back! Quite the synchronicity. I wasn't familiar with Paschal Mystery either. But you seem to have captured it quite eloquently in your unawareness. I've recently started Morning Pages and i must say that your journaling is FAR more eloquent than mine. Does it just flow out of you like that or do you craft it as you write. Splendid in any case.
This morning i mused on love vs. fear and how these polar perspectives create radically different and shifting worldviews many times each day. A different sort of wounding and healing...if you will. But i posit that i am already healed and whole except in my awareness. Im liking my holy week so far.
I hope you had a refreshing respite.
BrettRam
Healing through our wounds, life from death, strength through weakness, these are expressions of the Paschal mystery. I think of Dame Julian writing that we, like Christ, will see our scars glorified, for through them comes out ultimate reconciliation/salvation/redemption/whatever...
that's some powerful journalling you've got going there, and isn't it always inspiring when synchronicity raises it's head to provide something good when the time is right
Lucy, I love this post and the whole concept of woundedness and healing. Who does the wounding? Who is wounded? How deep is the wound? Who does the healing. In medicine a wound is explored, cleaned, dead and not viable tissue removed, irrigated, tended and clean dressing applied. The wound is treated carefully and attentively. But what of the wounds that are ignored, neglected, picked at and repeatedly reopened? Disease and delayed healing usually occur. How like our emotional and spiritual wounds! I find it such a comfort to know that the Healer and ultimate Great Physician is one for all these wounds. Also, have you ever noticed that for properly tended wounded the result is usually a pearly white scar, the tissue often much stronger that the surrounding 'uninjured' tissue!! May we all experience Healing for all our wounds! Glad to have you back! Love, Pamela
For what it's worth: paschal is the English corruption of the Hebrew word for Passover (Pesach). In almost any non-English speaking culture the word for Easter would be Pascha or something like it. So what is the mystery, the holy Paschal mystery? It is hidden in the question, What does it mean to say that Christ died for my sins? Leaving that aside, I commend to you the work of Eric Law who has written extensively on the cycle of crucifixion and resurrection that characterizes the Christian life. More if you want.
As I read this, I kept thinking "Love--don't forget love!" We love and we are loved.
wow...what a wonderful bunch of responses!
tess--i love the images of "the wheel of the year turns, and turns again." it does repeat that cycle of healing & wounding.
brettram--odd as it may seem, sometimes the words do flow out like that. granted, they usually come in the 4th or 5th or 6th page after all of the gunky gibberish has been poured out. it is then that i can come to some clarity about what has been rolling around in my brain :-)
keep up the "pages". i have found out more about myself that way!
barbara--thanks for reminding me of dame julian. i would like to do a little exploring there. do you have recommendations?
kel--synchronicity is one of my very favorite things. it stops me in my tracks and then usually makes me life right then and there!
pamela--i love to "see" you think through these thoughts. thank you so much for your doctor's insight into wounding & healing. it truly is a metaphor for us emotionally and spiritually.
cp--i thought this one might get your attention. thanks for the reading recommendation. i will add it to my very long list. yikes!!
karen--and of course we cannot forget love. isn't that where the healing usually takes place? and then again, aren't we often most wounded by those we love? there's that cycle again!
peace to you all. i am so grateful you took the time to read and comment!!!
lucy, my favorite version of her Revelations of Divine Love (or Showings) is the Penguin Classics one with the Clifton Wolters translation. The Colledge and Walsh translation in the Paulist Press version is a bit more stilted, I find. Sue has the former translation and seems to like it, too, from what I can tell.
We can't deny the hurt and brokenness we experience, and, it may be so unnecessary in the end, if we knew who we truly were. In a way, our focus on the paschal mystery keeps us ever connected to this endless cycle of healing and brokenness, when there is another place to look and see a different mystery, that of the Christ emerging in us. Over at Hearthtalks, I go into it a bit. Have a look and you may have another powerful mystery to ponder and I hope enjoy! Blessings, Sr. K
Sr. K--the key words for me in the "paschal mystery" are Renewal and Raising Up. similar possibly to what you see as "Christ emerging in us."
'No matter what, the light cannot be extinguished.'
thanks for commenting and pointing me back to hearth talks.
peace.
Wounded and healing. Light and dark. Winter and Summer. Hot and cold. Love and fear. Gibberish in the first 5 morning pages and eloquence in the 6th :)
Paradox. Always paradox. Crying more as I heal more. Feeling lighter and feeling more grounded the longer I go on. Groaning more the longer I go on.
Ahh, this journey. It gets more mysterious and more simple the longer I go on.