Dear Saints,

Modern science cannot fully explain the Shroud of Turin. The most experts can say so far is that the semblance of a tortured and crucified man on its fabric seems to have been caused by a “scorch” - that is, some kind of intense burst of light and energy - and they don’t know of anything in nature that can make that kind of mark.

So was the “scorch” the power of the Resurrection? Maybe. That would be consistent with what we know to be true about that blessed event: it actually, physically happened. Jesus actually, physically defeated death and actually, physically rose to new life. It makes sense that there would be discernible tracings of his body on the burial cloths that could not, in the end, constrain him.

Here’s what else we know: we are Jesus’s body, which means we must not be constrained either. Having been baptized into his death and resurrection, we are called to be the energy that bursts onto the scene and leaves a mark.

Having gathered us to himself through the undimmable light of Christ, God is now sending us out to his beloved world powered by that same source. Every single day of our lives, may we radiate with the love that death cannot vanquish and devotion that hell cannot withstand.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ