“What is the ingredient that makes paradise sweet?”

Read the Nicene Creed and you will not find the jelly for the doughnut. Pass from Good Friday to Easter Sunday and you will not find the jelly for the doughnut.

Why? Why does the Church leave out the jelly from the doughnut?

The Church is in a rush to get from his death to his resurrection. It makes haste. That he died is proof that he is human. That he did not stay dead is proof that he is God. Yet, this is only half of the story. It is an important half of the story. But, it is not the jelly. It is not the ingredient that makes paradise sweet.

What is the other half of the story? What is the ingredient that makes paradise sweet? What is the jelly for the doughnut?

That he did not stop loving us is the jelly for the doughnut. That he did not stop loving us is the ingredient that makes paradise sweet. That he did not stop loving us is the other half of the story.

We tortured and killed him. He suffered and died. These facts would ordinarily extinguish any love he has for us. Ordinarily, when we tortured him, his love for us would have faded. Ordinarily, when we killed him, his love for us would have died. However, this did not happen. Love survived. We baptized him in evil. Yet, our evil baptism had no effect. He continued to love us nonetheless. Wow!

How do I sign up? Where do I enlist? How do I join the kingdom of this omnipotent God whose love for me is intransigent?

“We tortured and killed him. He suffered and died. Yet, he did not stay dead and he did not stop loving us.”

“Jesus did not pay us a visit just to prove to us that he is God. Jesus paid us a visit to prove that He loves us. Therefore, to give us the proof, Jesus let us torture and kill him. He suffered and died. Yet, he did not stay dead and he did not stop loving us. That he did not stay dead is the proof that Jesus is God. That he did not stop loving us is the proof that divinity is love. (Note: in the rush to get from his death to his resurrection - from Good Friday to Easter Sunday - do not overlook the fact that he did not stop loving us. It is a most important fact.)”