Saint Vincent Spirituality Publications

EXALTED IN GLORY

Encountering the Risen Christ

by Fr. Mark Gruber OSB

From our earliest catechetical training, the message of Easter Sunday has been proclaimed by the Church as the driving force of Christian spirituality. The Resurrection makes the wood of the Cross verdant and fruitful and provides the avenue for the coming of the Holy Spirit, as well as its pattern for human sanctification. But the meaning of the Resurrection all too often in pastoral practice has come to apply only to consolation at funerals.

Undoubtedly the doctrine has value for the dying and the grieving, but if its extraordinary power is neglected until such extremes, it may seem gratuitous to introduce it into spiritual discourse just then. Besides, most Christians, in the absence of roundly appreciating the meaning of the Resurrection in their daily lives, place their future hope more in the ambiguities of "going to heaven," rather than in being raised up in Christ. Many might feel that their own bodily resurrection is an unnecessary eschatological detail, whereas a disembodied hereafter of enjoying the Beatific Vision might do just as well.

All this is evidence that many would-be believers are no more at home in the mysteries of the flesh than they are in those of the Faith. Much of the Good News of the teaching Church in any age must concern itself with the proclamation of the Good News of Christ risen. Today, that need is greater than ever.... The present volume elaborates the message of Christ's Resurrection in a contemporary idiom, yet with the timeless reverence of our true Faith. (from the Author's "Preface")

Exalted in Glory is a collection of Easter meditations originally delivered as retreat conferences, woven together from transcriptions of Fr. Mark Gruber's tapes.... The clarity of thought, the alliteration, the careful phrasing allow one to easily understand concepts, but also to experience his delivery.

Fr. Gruber tackles the apparent scriptural confusion concerning the resurrection of Jesus. There are many aspects of the story that seem contradictory.... He approaches all of these "contradictions," not as a geographical puzzle, but rather as a spiritual mystery. The author makes references to patristic interpretations in regard to the resurrection appearances of Our Lord. These bring an enriched appreciation of this mystery to the modern mind, which has the tendency to "figure out problems," rather than to delve into the mystery. (Pittsburgh Catholic, December 2, 1994)

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St. Vincent Spirituality Publications