“See how they love one another,” was the cry of the pagans in the Roman Empire as they observed the life of the early Church. How can I live so as to help ensure that my own community looks like Luke’s description of the early Church? How can we all live so as to transform our communities so that the world says about us what the Roman Empire said about those first Christians?

This story, once unknown to me, continues to be the most powerful testimony of God’s mercy I have ever heard. When I first heard it, it was as if I could see Hoess, this man who had done such unspeakable evil, firmly in the hands of the one Jesus calls “the strong man,” that is, the devil. Slowly, as I watched, Jesus – the Stronger One – began to pull Hoess out of our enemy’s grip. As he did so, in my mind’s eye, our Risen Lord, the One who triumphed over Sin and Death, the one who is not only unconquerable and unrivaled but rich in mercy, said, “You. Can’t. Even. Have. Him.”

The annual celebration of Liberation Day, not only for the human race but the entire universe, is upon us. To help us better meditate on what Jesus was doing in His passion, death and resurrection, here are some excerpts from a few of our ancestors in the faith from years ago. May the Holy Spirit help us to appropriately celebrate all that King Jesus has done for us! 

Today, though — March 25 — is also the traditional date of Good Friday. According to tradition, Mary’s Child — the God-man, our Rescuer, the Lord of heaven and earth — was both conceived and died on the same day of the year.