Why does the Catholic Church give more attention to the crucified Christ than to the resurrected Christ?
Most Catholic churches have the crucified Christ hanging over the altar; they rarely have an image of the resurrected Christ. Isnt it the resurrected Christ who gives us the power to live the Good News? A: The New Testament speaks of and Catholic liturgy celebrates Jesus entire paschal mystery: his passion, death and resurrection. Apart from uses in the Gospels, the New Testament contains 26 other references to Jesus resurrection; each of them implies at the same time the passion and death of Jesus. We see the crucified Christ as a sign of victory only because we realize that Jesus story did not end on Calvary. Death did not have the last word. In fact, there are some Catholic churches that have crucifixes representing Jesus as resurrected or as wearing priestly or royal garments. At every Mass, the eucharistic acclamation affirms all the moments of Jesus paschal mystery, into which we were baptized. If you have a question for Father Pat, please submit it here. Include your street addr
