A Spirituality of the Paschal Mystery

 " Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains but a single harvest."
Some of Christianity's harshest critics have suggested that what is wrong with it, is that it  set itself a absurd task of teaching happy people to be unhappy, so that it can minister to their unhappiness. Christianity, they say, focuses too much on suffering, death, and the next life, effectively destroying our capacity to enjoy this one. Freud, it seems was of this mind. He blamed Christianity for a neurotic anxiety within the Western soul that , among other things, prevents us from being properly responsive to where the real soul's happiness lies.
 Not all of this is wrong, a lot of anxiety has been taught in  the name of Christian spirituality, but the critic of Christianity are so naïve if the suppose that human's are naturally content and that issues of suffering, death, and the next life do not, without undue attention from Christianity, make us pathologically anxious. No philosophy of life, no anthropology, no psychology, and certainly, no spiritually can pretend to be mature without grappling with the timeless, haunting questions on suffering and death. These are the realities that gnaw at the heart. No amount of denial, disciplined  focus on the present moment, or effort to exorcise what some perceive as the neurotic ghosts of Christianity immunizes us against the realities of suffering and death and the need for transformation to which these call us.
Hence Christian spiritually does not apologize for the fact that, within it, the most central of all mysteries is the paschal ( the sacrifice of the Lamb.) One, the mystery of suffering, death, and transformation. In Christianity spiritually, Christ is central. and, central to Christ, is his death and rising to new life so as to send us a new spirit.  This is the central mystery within Christianity. Unfortunately, it is also one of the great misunderstood and ignored mysteries within Christian theology and spirituality. We pay lip service to the fact that the key thing that Jesus did for us was to suffer and die, but we seldom really try to understand what that means and how we might appropriate it within our lives.
 What is the paschal mystery of Christ? How do we enter that mystery?
 Before looking explicitly at the theology that underlies the paschal mystery, it can be helpful to get a certain feel for it by examining a few stories within which we see it incarnate. ( Embodied). We will look at two stories, from very different places, each of which, is a truly a paschal story. One of the early books, of  Brian Moore, 'the lonely Passion of Judith Hearne' , is truly a paschal story.
Once upon a time, in Dublin, there was a women named Judith Hearne. In many ways, Judith is a very gifted women. Healthy, bright, attractive,  a respected teacher, comfortable financially,  and solidly connected to her family and a number of trusted friends, she is loved and respected. There is one problem, however. she is approaching menopause, is unmarried and without children, both her biology and psyche are consciously and unconsciously reminding her of the fundamental axiom, " it is not good to be alone" especially when your biological clock is striking-12!
 Hence, without realizing it, Judith becomes desperate. Everything in her life- her health, her job, her family, and her friends- count for nothing in face of the fact that what she wants, a husband and children, is denied her.  a great restlessness besets her, and in that unconsciously state, she meets a man, an American, with whom she falls in love with. The man, however, is not interested in her romantically and is pursuing  the relationship only because he thinks she has money. and they might open a restaurant together.
One night, after a date, Judith takes the initiative. She proposes marriage to the American. But he rejects her offer, telling her the truth of his intention.  That rejection was the final straw. Judith snaps. She goes on a alcoholic binge, has a nervous breakdown, and ends up in church, cursing God, and trying to grab the blessed sacrament. She was taken to a hospital where she receives good care and eventually recovers. The story has a redemptive ending. Shortly before she leaves the hospital, she receives a visit from her American friend, the man who had previously rejected her.He arrives in her room contrite, carrying a dozen roses, telling her he had been wrong, and proposing marriage.
 Her response to him, far better than most theology books, lays out the dynamics of Pentecost. She hands back the roses back to her friend with these words:  " Thank you."  I am not interested in marrying you and, to tell you why, I need to tell you a story.  When you are a little girl you dream a dream of the perfect life you will have. You grow up to have a beautiful body, meet the perfect man, marry him, have wonderful children, live in a wonderful home in a neighborhood, and have wonderful friends. But as you grow older and that dream doesn't happen, you begin to revise it, downward. You scale down your expectations and begin to look for someone to marry who doesn't have to be perfect... until you get like I was, where unconsciously you get so desperate that you will marry anyone, even if he is common dirt! Well, I learned something by losing myself and then refinding myself; I can be happy either way. I learned that if I receive the spirit for who I am, it doesn't matter whether I am married or unmarried, my happiness doesn't depend upon somebody outside of me, but upon the peace with what's inside of me. The story ends with Judith leaving the hospital, strong and happy again, making a airplane out of his business card, and floating it out of the cab's window.
 Pentecost has just taken place because, as scripture tells us, the Holy Spirit is not a generic spirit, but a spirit that is given to each of us in a most particular circumstances.
 The last story is from the Jewish scriptures and recounts history of the death of King David' illegitimate son. 
One day David's son became seriously ill and David for his part, did what was expected then of a Father. He donned sack cloth, sat in ashes, and prayed and fasted, pleading with God to spare his son.
 However, the son died. Immediately upon hearing this, David got up from the ground, took off his sack-cloth, bathed off the ashes, went to the Temple, prayed, returned to his house, ate a good meal and went up and slept with his wife. This behavior struck his friends as rather odd.  They asked David whether perhaps he has got things somewhat backwards. : " while your son was alive you fasted and prayed: and now that he is dead you eat and drink. But David, in words to this effect, explains some of the Paschal mystery: While the child was still alive, I fasted and prayed, hoping God might spare him. Now that he is dead there is nothing I can do.
 For King David, a certain resurrection has just occurred. His son is dead, but he is still alive., not  in the same way as he was alive before his son died, but with a new life which he, in faith begins to move into with some strength. The paschal mystery is the mystery of how we, after undergoing some kind of death, receive new life and a new spirit. Jesus in both his teaching and in his life, showed us a clear paradigm for how this should happen.
Hence, Christian spirituality does not apologize for the fact that, within, the most central of all mysteries is the paschal one, the mystery of suffering, death, and transformation. In Christian spirituality , Christ is central and central to Christ, is his death and rising to a new life so as to send us a new spirit. Unfortunately it is misunderstood and ignored mysteries  within Christian theology.
 We pay lip service to the fact that the key thing that Jesus did for us was to suffer and die, but we seldom really try to understand what that means and how we apply it to our lives.
We must distinguish between  life and spirit. For example, after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples are given a new life of Christ, but only after, at Pentecost, are they given the spirit for the new life that they are already living. We live by both life and spirit and our peace of soul depends on balance between the two.