St. Margaret Mary’s Church
Volume 4
Behold, the Lamb of God
March 2015
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s we draw close to Easter and reflect upon the mysteries of Christ’s passion, we find ourselves again at the centre stage of God’s scheme of redemption. Christ’s love is universal through locality and time, reaching men and women whose faith lies in the saving grace and love bartered with the Holy Blood of the Lamb of God. Our hope in salvation and the resurrection of the body was promised by the Risen Lord, the forerunner of what is to become of us, from corruptible flesh to immortality.
We share a faith which emphasizes much on the trust in God, in small things and also stormy times in our lives. We have learnt how the Lord calmed the waves in the Sea of Galilee where the apostles were cowering in a weather-battered boat. After Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves and have calmed the sea, the apostles were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:27) It took the apostles miracle after miracle to have an eventual realization of who the Lord is; with awe and amazement they bore witnesses to the power of God which time after time redefined what would be reasonable to them. Today some of us may call what they saw and experienced counterintuitive or defying the law of physics. Jesus did not turn away those who doubt. After He was risen from the dead, He appeared among the apostles and asked Thomas, who doubted His resurrection, to “put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:26) Obviously rising from the dead is not a natural occurrence and would be considered illogical by many, perhaps more so on our days as scientific understanding develops at a fast pace. In Thomas we see that the Lord did not condemn the seeking of proof, the seeing and touching that will affirm Thomas of what his fellow apostles already believe. If the pursuit of rationality is a flawed human faculty which cannot coexist with faith, Jesus would not have allowed Thomas to touch him as Thomas was to stay as one of his beloved apostles. However it is not and should not be a prerequisite of believing, as the Lord has said that “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) Fr. Andrew Dalton LC., whose highly specialized knowledge in the Shroud of Turin is widely acknowledged, said, “Faith is not the consequence of a syllogism or science experiment but a personal choice and a gift from God. Faith is not reason, but it is reasonable: it involves believing not on the basis of proof experienced firsthand but rather on the basis of the credibility of the one revealing…In a word, science does not prove faith, for then how would faith be faith? The Shroud, therefore, does not prove that Jesus rose from the dead, but its scientific testimony is perfectly compatible with his resurrection. Faith may not be reducible to reason (which is why I must respect my non-Christian friends), but Christian faith is reasonable (which is why they must respect me).” The excerpt above can be found at https://www. shroud.com/pdfs/dalton.pdf and more of his works can be found easily on the internet. We the parishioners at St. Margaret’s and Christ the King are very fortunate and honoured to have Fr. Andrew Dalton LC.’s presence in early April as he will host a two-hour seminar on The Shroud in English. Admission is open and free but entry will be limited to seats available at the Hall at St. Margaret’s.
Date : 5 April 2015 (Easter Sunday) Time : 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Venue : St. Margaret’s Church Ground Hall Free admission (English)
SHROUD of Turin by Fr. Andrew Dalton LC Diploma in Shroud
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