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"Life, Love, & Light" with Veronica Mary Rolf
In the FIRST SEASON of "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts, we delve into the wisdom of the beloved medieval mystic, JULIAN OF NORWICH, to discover how her "Revelations of Divine Love" may inspire, encourage, and guide us on our own spiritual path. The first episode is entitled "Sheltering in Place" and introduces Julian of Norwich, an enclosed anchorite who received sixteen Revelations of Divine Love and heard Christ tell her: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and thou shalt see thyself that all manner of thing shall be well." The season includes twenty-five episodes with Guided Meditations following each episode. In the SECOND SEASON, we meet a fascinating variety of Old and New Testament BIBLICAL MYSTICS. We discover men and women who faced major challenges and crises in their lives, made some really big mistakes, were forgiven, received mystical revelations, and then dared to act on those revelations. Their stories may become powerful inspirations in our own time of crisis, fear, and uncertainty. In the THIRD SEASON, we discuss THE MYSTICAL PATH and consider what is involved in following such a path – not only through the practice of contemplative prayer – but in every aspect of our daily lives. We explore the three stages of the mystical path and discuss how to deal with distractions, dullness, and agitation in order to focus on silence, stillness, and surrender, toward a deeper union with God. In the Guided Meditations, we practice becoming aware of thoughts, emotions, and memories that arise, without becoming attached to them. In the FOURTH SEASON, we delve into the all-important but rarely discussed topic of Resurrection, based on my recent award winning book, "LIVING RESURRECTED LIVES: WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT MATTERS," co-authored by my daughter, Eva Natanya, PhD. In the first episode -- entitled "What is Resurrection?" -- we consider ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Hebrew ideas about the afterlife: what it was, what it was not. Then we examine biblical references to life after death in the psalms, prophets, apocalyptic literature, and the Book of Wisdom. Following episodes examine the four biblical accounts of Christ's resurrection to discover the bedrock of Christian belief in bodily resurrection. We also consider how we may begin living resurrected lives even now, as sons and daughters of the resurrection. At this time of great disharmony, fear, crisis, and suffering in our world, one thing remains certain: The love of God is everlasting. PLEASE SHARE these "Life, Love, & Light" podcasts. They are available on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, and all the major directories as well as on https://lifelovelight.buzzsprout.com/. Podcaster VERONICA MARY ROLF is a medieval scholar, retreat leader, and master teacher of dramatic arts. She is the author of "Living Resurrected Lives: What it Means and Why it Matters" (Cascade Books, 2020), co-authored with Eva Natanya, PhD, which won a 2021 Catholic Media Association Book Award for Spirituality, and "Suddenly There is God: The Story of Our Lives in Sacred Scripture" (Cascade Books, 2019), which won a 2020 Catholic Media Association Book Award for Scripture. She is also the author of "An Explorer's Guide to Julian of Norwich" (IVP Academic, 2018) and "Julian's Gospel: Illuminating the Life and Revelations of Julian of Norwich" (Orbis Books, 2013), which have won numerous awards, including a First Place Catholic Media Association Book Award and the Nautilus Gold Medal for Spirituality. Veronica blogs on two websites: www.VeronicaMaryRolf.com and www.JuliansVoice.com.
"Life, Love, & Light" with Veronica Mary Rolf
The Empty Tomb
In this week's episode of Life, Love, & Light, we examine the four gospel accounts of the discovery of the empty tomb of Jesus Christ by the women. It has long been observed that there are numerous disparities in the empty tomb stories. Unfortunately, for some readers, these variations and inconsistencies have given rise to doubt and even disbelief. Since the four canonical gospels diverge not only in details, but in personal viewpoints, we must delve deeper to discover what was deemed absolutely necessary to convey. To deal with these issues, we ask: What is the historical bedrock of each resurrection story? What is dramatization for effect? What is the elaboration of tradition by the early church? And what is a developing theological understanding of Jesus as the Son of God?
In the process, we discover that the diverse ways of dramatizing the details of the empty tomb story—who saw and heard what and when— matter less than the essential meaning and message of the story itself. The tomb was empty for only one reason: Jesus had risen from the dead. Inconsistencies in the telling do not rule out truthfulness. Some might even say they add to a story’s authenticity. Each eye witness remembered and recounted the experience differently. Each attributed greater or lesser importance to certain aspects of the revelation. But the women who discovered the empty tomb and all who later saw the risen Jesus contributed in some way to the earliest oral tradition. All were convinced that the Jesus they had known before had now returned from the dead, utterly transformed but entirely recognizable. They knew this to be true because they had seen him with their own eyes. Some inconsistencies may indicate that each evangelist was determined to retell the empty tomb and resurrection story in his own particular way, with his own unique emphasis, articulating his own theological viewpoint. But these “teaching agendas” did not change the essential nature of what had actually happened. On the contrary, the kerygma—that is, the apostolic “proclamation” of teaching about the empty tomb and the risen Christ—was based on the core tradition from which all the gospels were written.
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