Purposeful Trial

Keep in mind...

(From the Catechism of the Catholic Church)

The Church's ultimate trial

675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.⁵⁷⁴ The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth⁵⁷⁵ will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.⁵⁷⁶

676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,⁵⁷⁷ especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.⁵⁷⁸

677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection.⁵⁷⁹ The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven.⁵⁸⁰ God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.⁵⁸¹

^{[Note to self: The path to Resurrection is always through the Cross.]}

Faith is a Gift

In response to USCCA, Chapter 8 Discussion Questions:
I've written a response to Question 1 for another venue, so I will wait to post that here until another day.  Meanwhile, re Questions 2 & 3:

How could I help someone come to faith in the Resurrection of Christ?  I don't think it really works that way.  I think that the Holy Spirit gives the gift of Faith.  Christ's Resurrection is something beyond human reason; the only way it is truly grasped is by the gift of Faith, given freely by the Spirit.  The way I can be used by the Spirit in that work is analogous to tilling soil.  I could till the soil, but the Spirit plants the seed.  The primary way I am to "till the soil" is by living a life transformed by the Spirit, especially by caring for others.  Another way I can "till the soil" is by sharing The Word (Scripture) with others.  Another way that is very accessible to me is that I can support others' in their growth in their faith life.  But the real work is done by the Spirit: giving the Gift of Faith.  For those who resist this Gift, I can pray the Lord to have mercy and to persist in making their lives "soil" capable of receiving the "seed."  This is a hard thing to pray because I am well aware that usually this involves some sort of tragedy or hardship.  People who have resisted the Gift of Faith in Christ tend to be hardened against receptivity.  It usually takes a life-altering event to bring about any review of their world-view.

There might be many ways a person comes to understand their need for a Savior, but the main way I experience this need is by encountering my own limitations, particularly my inability to forgive and to heal without the special working of the Holy Spirit.

"Why (/how) are the Cross and the Resurrection bound together in the Paschal Mystery?"
You can only rise to new life when you die to the old.
 

An Unaltered Faith

The  following texts are excerpts I've highlighted while reading The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM).  From the Introduction; Testimony of an Unaltered Faith:

The sacrificial nature of the Mass, solemnly defended by the Council of Trent, because it accords with the universal tradition of the Church, was once more stated by the Second Vatican Council, which pronounced these clear words about the Mass: "At the Last Supper, Our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood, by which the Sacrifice of his Cross is perpetuated until he comes again; and till then he entrusts the memorial of his Death and Resurrection to his beloved spouse, the Church."
..."for whenever the memorial of this sacrifice is celebrated the work of our redemption is accomplished..."
So, in the new Missal the rule of prayer (lex orandi) of the Church corresponds to her perennial rule of faith (lex credendi), by which we are truly taught that the sacrifice of his Cross and its sacramental renewal in the Mass, which Christ the Lord instituted at the Last Supper and commanded his Apostles to do in his memory, are one and the same, differing only in the manner of their offering; and as a result, that the Mass is at one and the same time a sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, propitiation, and satisfaction.
...the royal Priesthood of the faithful... For the celebration of the Eucharist is the action of the whole Church... For this people is the People of God, purchased by Christ's Blood, gathered together by the Lord, nourished by his word, the people called to present to God the prayers of the entire human family, a people that gives thanks in Christ for the mystery of salvation by offering his Sacrifice, a people, finally, that is brought together in unity by Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ.  This people, though holy in its origin, nevertheless grows constantly in holiness by conscious, active, and fruitful participation in the mystery of the Eucharist.