One of Cardinal Newman's favorite verbs is "to realize." In many ways it sums up so much of spirituality and pastoral ministry: to make real for ourselves the mystery of our faith, especially the paschal mystery.Peter Nixon's post below is a fine example of such "realization," aided by the practice of Ignatian meditation. I have never excelled at visual imagining; so I turn to music to assist me. It will come of no surprise to readers of dotCom that my unsurpassed mentor is Johann Sebastian Bach.From time immemorial (that is, the past forty years), before the Easter Vigil celebration, I have played one of the greatest cantatas, "Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death" (BWV 4). But the repeated "halleluias" do not lend themselves to Holy Saturday morning when silence and expectation prevail. So I turn to the cantatas Bach composed for "Quinquagesima Sunday," before the long Lenten season began, yet anticipatory of Christ's passion.There is a wonderful recording by the great Phillipe Herreweghe of Bach's cantatas for Quinquagesima, under the title "Jesu, deine Passion" (Harmonia Mundi 2009). This morning I have been listening to/meditating with "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr'Mensch und Gott" (BWV 127). I find it makes for somber and salutary reflection.Here is how the introductory notes speak of the lovely soprano aria:

[In it] soprano voice and oboe, accompanied by staccato chords from two recorders, engage in a moving elegaic dialogue. In the second part of the aria the strings enter with pizzicato figures at the keyword "Sterbeglocken" (funeral bells).

And here is what the soprano sings:

The soul will rest in Jesus' hands/ when earth covers this body// Ah, call me soon you funeral bells/ I am undismayed by death//For my Jesus will wake me again [Weil mich mein Jesus wieder weckt].

Somber, yet imbued with hope.