Easter Chat

What does it mean that Jesus’ soul “put on its glorious body.” Is the body simply a costume that our souls wear?How does the body of Jesus save us? Isn’t God’s divine nature enough to save us on its own?How do we “put on Jesus Christ”?How can we extend the celebration of Easter outside of Liturgy? In other words: how can we let Easter into our lives?Discuss/reflect upon the words of St. Paul: “Lord, what will you have me to do?”Think of the metaphor of clothes that St. Francis suggests with so many biblical

figures. Christ himself was stripped of his garments on Calvary. On our deathbed we will be stripped of all of our earthly attachments, possessions, wealth, and even friends. How can we prepare ourselves for this last step of our lives?
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Apr 17, 6:14 AM

SrSusan: newsletter for chat https://visitationspirit.org/2025/04/newsletter-for-easter-sunday-chat-april-20/

Newsletter for Easter Sunday chat April 20 | Visitation Spirit

Apr 20, 4:25 PM

SrSusan: q What does it mean that Jesus’ soul “put on its glorious body.”

Apr 20, 4:27 PM

DocRuth2Day: I dunno, but it was different, but not so very different. “we ate and drank with him.”

pr 20, 4:28 PMSrSusan: the glory of God is often associated with the Presence of God so maybe Jesus human Body was now more filled with the Divine?

Apr 20, 4:29 PMSimone29: as for our question.. a body is in a way the expression of a soul. a soul animates the body.. so if Jesus’ soul “puts on its glorious body” – in a way – we see that something must have changed the soul too – so it expresses now in this way. Just thinking out loud here

Apr 20, 4:30 PM

DocRuth2Day: ? Or less “stuck” in time and space than his human body was?

Apr 20, 4:30 PM

SrSusan: His human soul?

Apr 20, 4:31 PM

SrSusan: well yes certainly Ruth as uit now had capacities it did not before or He had those capacities

Apr 20, 4:31 PM

DocRuth2Day: He never had TWO souls, did he?

Apr 20, 4:31 PM

SrSusan: Dont know actually good question

Apr 20, 4:31 PM

Simone29: I think.. a soul only can be human – but as you said.. filled with divinity.. it would be changed.. and good point Ruth.. that now we are thinking also outside of time and space

Apr 20, 4:31 PM

SrSusan: 2 natures, one person

pr 20, 4:32 PM

DocRuth2Day: Yes.

Apr 20, 4:32 PM

Simone29: his divine nature did not need a soul.. I think – there is no such thing as a divine soul.. is there? The divine is uncreated. isn’t a soul always something created?

pr 20, 4:32 PM

SrSusan: Sorry I really dont know

Apr 20, 4:32 PM

DocRuth2Day: Good point, Simone.

Apr 20, 4:33 PM

SrSusan: I guess the divine essence is not a soul

Apr 20, 4:33 PM

Simone29: that’s a very difficult theological and philosophical question I find

pr 20, 4:33 PM

Simone29: I agree Sr. Susan.

Apr 20, 4:33 PM

DocRuth2Day: As God he is not one being among beings but the ground of all, the IAM.

Apr 20, 4:33 PMSimone29: Yes Ruth. Amen.

pr 20, 4:34 PMSimone29: the source of all other created

Apr 20, 4:34 PM

DocRuth2Day: Agree.

Apr 20, 4:35 PM

SrSusan: So His glorious Body is simply a body then and not related to His essence?

pr 20, 4:36 PM

Simone29: I think.. He already has the body.. we will only get AFTER everything else has happened – which we read in Book of Revelation – so for Jesus.. all the obstacles are already removed. There must be a difference with the uniqueness of human and divine nature in one person.

Apr 20, 4:36 PM

SrSusan: Is the body simply a costume that our souls wear?How does the body of Jesus save us?

Apr 20, 4:36 PM

DocRuth2Day: Whew! His Body is also us, the Church.

Apr 20, 4:37 PMSimone29: Maybe Jesus glorified body.. is the body we will forever grow towards? He is the perfection

pr 20, 4:38 PM

SrSusan: Its not a costume but a real and important part of us

Apr 20, 4:38 PM

SrSusan: But Jesus saved us with His whole Being

Apr 20, 4:39 PM

Simone29: well.. like I said.. according to Theology of the Body.. the body expresses the soul.. and the soul animates the body with life… as for “does the body of Jesus save us”.. well in the way.. that it became the instrument of the most sacrificial love – that opened the heavenly gates for reunion between God and mankind.

Apr 20, 4:39 PM

DocRuth2Day: This is beyond me! I believe in the resurrection of the body (and life everlasting).

Apr 20, 4:39 PM

Simone29: it was the LOVE that saved us.. but this love was expressed through the body of Christ.. and still is.. as Ruth said.. we are the body of Christ now

Apr 20, 4:40 PM

SrSusan: good points

pr 20, 4:40 PM

SrSusan: Isn’t God’s divine nature enough to save us on its own?

Apr 20, 4:41 PM

Simone29: I don’t think so.. if that were so.. Jesus would not have to become human.

Apr 20, 4:42 PM

DocRuth2Day: Did he HAVE to?

pr 20, 4:42 PM

DocRuth2Day: O happy faultof Adam,

Apr 20, 4:43 PM

Simone29: To save us.. means.. that we have to be re-connected to the source of life again.. and.. we only could be re-connected.. if there was it somehow possible for a human to link us with the divine and close the gap.. Well.. we know how the story went

Apr 20, 4:44 PM

SrSusan: It’s the way God chose

Apr 20, 4:44 PM

Simone29: Ruth.. that is a good question. did he HAVE to? I mean.. He is God.. but then.. did he HAD to divide the Red Sea? Did he Had to create a flood? God’s will is perfect.. and so we accept it

pr 20, 4:45 PM

DocRuth2Day: Without any insufficiency in God, our loving self-offering “makes up for what is lacking (in Christ’s self sacrifice.”

Apr 20, 4:45 PM

SrSusan: How do we “put on Jesus Christ”?

Apr 20, 4:46 PMSimone29: Are you referring to Colossians 1:24 Ruth?

Apr 20, 4:47 PMSimone29: I was trying to find the passage in the letter.. I find it a bit confusing.

Apr 20, 4:48 PM

DocRuth2Day: I have to check.

Apr 20, 4:48 PM

Simone29: I know .. that in Colossians 3.. when it speaks about putting on.. different virtues.. I was once told.. that this is not like something that we “pretend

Apr 20, 4:48 PM

Simone29: to be kind

Apr 20, 4:48 PM

Simone29: or pretend to be generous

Apr 20, 4:48 PM

Simone29: but when we say ” we put on love”.. we address, that we do not have it in us what it needs.. so we need help from outside.. and that is what we put on

Apr 20, 4:49 PM

SrSusan: as soon as we have put off the garments of the old Adam, we are to put on the habits of the new man, that is to say of Jesus Christ, for having renounced all,—yes, even the affection to virtues, neither desiring of these nor of other things a larger portion than God’s will intends,—we must put on again divers affections, and perhaps the very same which we have renounced and resigned: but we must now put them on again not because they are agreeable, profitable, honorable to us, and proper to content the lov

Apr 20, 4:49 PM

SrSusan: love we have for ourselves, but because they are agreeable to God, profitable to his honor, and destined to his glory.

Apr 20, 4:49 PM

Simone29: for me.. “to put on Christ” means also.. that I so want to hide under Him.. IN Him.. that when people look at me.. they only see Jesus

Apr 20, 4:49 PM

SrSusan: this paragraph do you mean?

pr 20, 4:50 PM

Simone29: yes.. and some parts before that too I think.. the language confuses me to be honest

Apr 20, 4:50 PM

DocRuth2Day: But faking it til we make it helps! I remember trying to figure out what a Christian would do, and then just doing it . . . In a public school . . . Which must have seemed really weird,

Apr 20, 4:51 PM

Simone29: LOL Ruth. .you are so sweet.

Apr 20, 4:51 PM

SrSusan: I am not sure but I think Putting on garment is some kind of theological language

pr 20, 4:51 PMSimone29: a garment is often what ” shapes our identity”.. and makes us recognizable to others

pr 20, 4:53 PMSrSusan: like spiritual clothing?

Apr 20, 4:53 PMSimone29: that’s what I was thinking

Apr 20, 4:54 PM

SrSusan: Living His vietues?

Apr 20, 4:54 PM

SrSusan: virtues

pr 20, 4:54 PM

Simone29: I guess that could be it. Like the Daughters of St. Francis say.. ” our smile is our habit”

Apr 20, 4:55 PM

DocRuth2Day: I like that.

Apr 20, 4:56 PMSrSusan: As Christ is within us it is also letting Him expand outward so we don’t have to struggle to put Him on , He is there but let Him live in us

Apr 20, 4:57 PM

Simone29: I like the thought of ” letting Him expand outward”

Apr 20, 4:58 PM

Simone29: I think.. the more He grows in us.. the more He becomes of us.. the more we are “clothed with Him”.. not sure if that makes sense

Apr 20, 4:59 PM

Simone29: these are all in a way such mystical expressions.. and experiences..

pr 20, 4:59 PM

DocRuth2Day: I know a woman who struggles with suicidal depression, has for decades, (not my patient), I sat near her on Friday. I don’t get to St. B’s very often any more. I told her that I saw her at a Christmas Eve Mass at St. B’s distributing Holy Communion. I was impressed that she had a smile for each communicant. She replied something like: People need smiles.

Apr 20, 5:00 PM

SrSusan: Yes and it stretches our understanding

Apr 20, 5:00 PMSrSusan: How can we extend the celebration of Easter outside of Liturgy? In other words: how can we let Easter into our lives?

Apr 20, 5:00 PM

SrSusan: How can we extend the celebration of Easter outside of Liturgy? In other words: how can we let Easter into our lives?

Apr 20, 5:01 PM

Simone29: for a person with suicidal depression .. to offer a smile.. to not just one.. but to many people.. is a true sacrifice of love – God bless this woman

Apr 20, 5:01 PM

Simone29: how can we let Easter into our lives? to offer to God the dead parts of our lives.

Apr 20, 5:01 PM

Simone29: and allow HIM to revive them – through His holy and life creating Spirit

pr 20, 5:02 PMDocRuth2Day: I knew, somehow, that her smile was an act of generosity – a gift she was passing on from Him, with Him. It had become,in her holiness, irrelevant whether or not she FELT like smiling.

pr 20, 5:03 PM

Simone29: that is such a touching story Ruth. having been so often and so long depressed in my life.. I know that every smile hurts in these days.. she really laid her life down for the others in her function as a Eucharistic Minister

Apr 20, 5:03 PM

SrSusan: And if she applies thta capacity to her tendencies to self destruct she can live outside of her feelings and someday those feelings could change

Apr 20, 5:03 PM

Simone29: can you explain your last statement a little bit more Sister? It seems profound, but I do not quite understand it.

Apr 20, 5:04 PM

Simone29: do you mean.. that she should try to step away from her “feeling- world” – where self destruct is predominant? And she should bypass this.. – living outside her feelings – until her feelings have healed?

Apr 20, 5:05 PM

DocRuth2Day: I’m taking a brief break.

Apr 20, 5:05 PM

SrSusan: Yes like she has the capacity to live beyond her feelings the smile shows this so maybe she can aply this capacity to other areas of her life

Apr 20, 5:05 PM

SrSusan: ok Ruth

Apr 20, 5:06 PM

SrSusan: I am no doctor so if I am wrong just let me know

Apr 20, 5:06 PM

Simone29: interesting approach Sister. I mean.. there are some therapy forms I guess that are referring to that too.. but it would be interesting to try this in an intentional context of holiness

Discuss/reflect upon the words of St. Paul: “Lord, what will you have me to do?”Apr 20, 5:09 PM

Simone29: I would like to discuss with some other Catholic psychologist if the redeemed soul needs a different way of healing than the normal psychology that is in a way made to pamper – and restore – the fallen human nature.

Apr 20, 5:09 PM

Simone29: sorry.. last comment.. was not answer to your question

Apr 20, 5:10 PM

SrSusan: that’s ok good comment

Apr 20, 5:06 PM

SrSusan: yes

Apr 20, 5:10 PM

Simone29: as for your question…that is what we read in the letter of the week

Apr 20, 5:10 PM

Simone29: And the glorious St. Paul, stripped in a moment of all affections: Lord, said he, what wilt thou have me do? that is, what is it thy pleasure for me to love, now that throwing me to the ground, thou hast made my own will to die? Ah! Lord, plant thy good-pleasure in the place of it, and teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.“

Apr 20, 5:11 PMSimone29: so.. in a way.. this question is the natural follow up question – once a person has stripped itself from all attachements. and starts to live with Holy Indifference

Apr 20, 5:13 PMSrSusan: If we keep asking that question we are living as close as possible to the Lord

Apr 20, 5:14 PM

Simone29: but I think.. we also should ask. “LORD, how do you want me TO BE?”.. most people rather DO something extra.. than change to become more like Christ I find

Apr 20, 5:14 PM

DocRuth2Day: Good and reassuring idea, SrSUsab

Apr 20, 5:14 PM

SrSusan: good point Simone

Apr 20, 5:15 PMDocRuth2Day: Wow, good observation, Simone.

Apr 20, 5:17 PM

DocRuth2Day: Someone said we are not human beings but human doers, or vice versa; I am not sure how the speaker meant it.

Apr 20, 5:18 PM

SrSusan: Because most people are more comfortable doing than just being

Think of the metaphor of clothes that St. Francis suggests with so many biblical

pr 20, 5:19 PM

Simone29: I am back

Apr 20, 5:19 PM

DocRuth2Day: One of my poems ends “It is enough to be. It is enough to be. Just You in me, and I in Thee.”

Apr 20, 5:19 PM

Simone29: that’s so lovely Ruth. Did you write this?

Apr 20, 5:20 PM

SrSusan: yes I agree

Apr 20, 5:20 PM

Simone29: I guess detachment is a good preparation for the eternal stripping

Apr 20, 5:21 PM

DocRuth2Day: Yes. Between “jobs.”

pr 20, 5:22 PMSimone29: I experience right now.. a major stripping.. by feeling that God invites me to give up on my “roots in Austria”. It truly feels like stripping.. stripping of security, familiarity, identity.. basically everything clothes provide too.. I just realized

pr 20, 5:24 PM

SrSusan: He keeps asking us to strip away

Apr 20, 5:25 PM

Simone29: I know. He does ask. He asks gently. But He does ask us

Apr 20, 5:25 PM

DocRuth2Day: Eternal stripping? I dunno. IF our glorified bodies are like these that we are familiar with, we will not only eat and drink but need food and water. We may even need sleep. And what about clothing? I just don’t know. But what I consider a blessing is that I don”t feel that I need to know.

pr 20, 5:26 PM

Simone29: Stripping in the way.. that everything we needed on earth will be useless.. only love will be the treasure that we can keep

Apr 20, 5:26 PM

SrSusan: one day, one world, one dimension at a time

Apr 20, 5:26 PMSimone29: as for – how our glorified bodies will function. No idea.. and like you Ruth.. I do not have the longing to probe into that either

pr 20, 5:27 PM

Simone29: that’s interesting “one dimension at a time”.. is that an expression from the Liturgy somewhere.. or did you make that up Sister?

Apr 20, 5:27 PM

SrSusan: I think that’s healthy, spiritually

Apr 20, 5:27 PM

SrSusan: I made it up as far as I know

pr 20, 5:27 PMSimone29: that is really good Sister.

Apr 20, 5:28 PM

DocRuth2Day: Good advice, Sister!

pr 20, 5:28 PM

Simone29: I would like to have that insight as my good bye thought today here.

Apr 20, 5:28 PM