Editing Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God (section)

== Friday, March 14: Timeline of Christ ==
We'll start with this prayer from [[Prayers#St. Clement of Rome (35-101 AD)|St. Clement of Rome]] 
[[File:GaudenzioFerrari_StorieCristo_Varallo2.jpg|alt=Life of Jesus|thumb|Life of Jesus (wikipedia)]]
For my first Easter as a Catholic, I read Bishop Fulton' Sheen’s “Life of Christ,“ timing my calendar with that of the book. Since about half the book is about the Passion and Resurrection, it didn't really line up . Still, it was a beautiful way to celebrate Easter Sunday when the Lord Has Risen! 

As we head towards the Passion week, let's think about how Jesus got there. We could start with Creation, or the Fall from Eden, but that’d bring us into the larger story of Salvation History, so instead we will discuss Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, and a few of the contingencies surrounding the time and place he chose to save us all.

Before going there, we ought to remember Saint Paul's admonition in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/15?12 1 Cor:15:12-14] that without the Resurrection "we are the most pitiable people of all":<blockquote>But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. </blockquote>
[[File:Sainte_Chapelle_-_Upper_level_1.jpg|thumb|417x417px|Sainte Chapelle - Upper level 1]]
In other words, no Resurrection, and nobody knows Christ -- maybe a few references to Jesus as in Josephus' "History of the Jews," or, as Islam holds, just another prophet (whom they say did not die on the Cross). At best, perhaps we'd talk about Jesus the Nazarene like Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, or like Confucius or Socrates the philosophers. I doubt his name would have made it past the 1st Century.

It's ironic, actually, that non-believers and deists like Thomas Jefferson, who hold that Jesus was a really smart man who said really nice things, only know about Christ because of the Resurrection. 

A fundamental problem with the Crucifixion without the Resurrection is that so much of what Jesus did in his ministry was directed towards the Crucifixion. Let's explore his life, his ministry, his place, his timing and, above all, his purpose.  Everything leads to Calvary, and Calvary leads to the Resurrection.   
----Started out talking about Saint-Chapelle in Paris -- wow!! (Guess the dates of construction -- mind blowing!)

We ended up looking over this chart that organizes the Gospel accounts chronologically: [https://biblechronology.net/ChronologyOfTheFourGospels-changes%20from%202019-06-05.pdf Chronology of the Four Gospels]  Pretty neat, but we mustn't ever lose sight of Christ's destination: Calvary and Resurrection.

God bless!