Crucified. Died. Buried….RISEN!

The story of Jesus is simple, yet unrivaled in its power. In fact, the wondrous account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection never leaves the lips of Legionaries, who recognize its capacity to instill hope in all those who hear it — hope both for eternal life and for help in this life.

Jesus’ story is no mere legend. As Legionaries, we faithfully pass down what we have received in an unbroken chain from Jesus Himself, transmitted to the Church by Mary and the Apostles and preserved from error through the goodness of God. The witness of the Mass — celebrated every Sunday since Pentecost — shines through the darkness and blindness that often obscures world history and enlightens every time and place.

“A child is born in an obscure village.  He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life. While still a young man, the tide of popular feeling turns against him. One denies him; another betrays him. He is turned over to his enemies. He goes through the mockery of a trial; he is nailed to a cross between two thieves, and when dead is laid in a borrowed grave by the kindness of a friend. Those are the facts of his human life. He rises from the dead.  Today we look back across nineteen hundred years and ask, what kind of trail has he left across the centuries? When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life…”

“The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” ~ 1926 Dr. James A. Francis

A shortened version of The Story of Jesus can be found in the lines of the Apostles’ Creed, an ancient prayer which we recite each time we say the Rosary. This prayer also serves as a profession of faith at Mass:

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.” 

A longer meditation on the Story of Jesus can be found in the Mysteries of the Rosary. In our daily Rosary, we pray with and contemplate the miraculous birth and boyhood of Jesus, His adult life and ministry, His saving death and His glorious resurrection.