In this book, he seeks to bridge the seeming chasm between the Seasons of Lent and Easter, illustrating through a different image in each homily that the two apparently contradictory seasonal senses of sacrifice and joy are experienced as united only in our embracing Christ in agony on the Cross through faith, hope and love, and thereby finding Him standing beside the Empty Tomb in vibrant glory. Everyone on earth carries one cross or another. Jesus, by bearing His own unto death, and then returning to us in glory, shows us that it is possible to complete our own Christian pilgrimage down here even when the wood seems heaviest, since He Himself has yoked Himself right next to us to aid us in shouldering its weight. Thus, whether the reader is struggling with a particularly challenging burden (along such lines as health, finances or relationships), or is simply seeking to grow in personal commitment to the Great Commission of faithful discipleship and apostolic fervor, this book is meant to provide vision, encouragement and hope as we all tread the narrow, rocky path of this world on our way to heaven, while at the same time trying to draw as many others along with us as possible as we attempt to spread the Kingdom of God in our fallen-yet-redeemed world. It is when others see us carrying our crosses, and yet silently shouting with our lives, "Christ is Risen! Alleluia!" that we have the greatest credibility in assuring them that the power of Jesus is real, effective, and joy-bringing. If this volume helps you to live more and more in this way, it will have succeeded in its primary purpose.
Father Anthony Petracca is a Catholic priest from Pennsylvania who started public preaching after being ordained a deacon in 1984. His love of the Word of God goes back much further, however, as his mother, his Catholic schools, his evangelical college friends, and his godly first spiritual director emphasized that the Father's Word is ultimately a person, Jesus Christ, Whom he needed to draw ever closer to in daily prayer and Bible-reading, through their Holy Spirit.
