Catholics and Protestants have a long and complicated history, full of both bitter conflict and reconciliation. However, despite warming relations and accelerating ecumenical efforts in the modern era, they too often struggle to have productive dialogue.

Many of the difficulties stem from using terms or making arguments that rely on radically different assumptions or underlying beliefs. If we are not careful to properly set the context and define our terms upfront, we end up talking past each other. Fortunately, the detour is avoidable with a little preparation.

Christians in the East traditionally sing a hymn by St. Romanos the Melodist at Easter. Again and again the beautiful and mysterious words “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death” are repeated by the faithful.

But what does this mean? How is it that Jesus conquers death by death?

Binding together the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension is a powerful and counterintuitive theme. That connecting piece is the incarnational manner of Christ’s redemption, bringing with it an emphasis on redeeming humanity by eternally uniting it with the divine.

Order rests at the heart of the creation account.

From the beginning of existence, God is. God is the source and end of all human life. Separated by the infinite and incomprehensible chasm between Creator and creation, our very existence is dependent on Him. We see this hierarchy throughout Genesis, particularly in the opening chapter.

Building on this foundation, any life worth living must be lived in view of this order — that is to say, it must be lived in submission to the will of God. We call this by many names, but at its core it describes Christian goodness. Correctly iterated, this goodness flows from God and leads to God.

In terms of practice, nothing matters more to the Catholic than the Sacred Mystery of the Eucharist, where our Lord meets His family in an outpouring of grace.

But what is the Eucharist? What does it mean to be the source and summit of the Catholic faith? Drawing on the Greek word for thanksgiving, the Eucharist is at once a triumphant act of offering worship to our Lord and a humble act of receiving grace from Him. It is both a gift and a requirement. A synthesis of the natural and divine. True thanksgiving.

Pondering the meaning of our Blessed Mother’s words in Luke 1 inevitably leads me to marvel at the possibility we each have in Christ.

The application is multilayered. The role of Mary reflects not only an inversion of what is commonly considered honorable but an extension of the profound grace we can access in Christ and through His Holy Sacraments. In the most meaningful way possible, her narrative reveals the very nature of God’s work in this world.

To define Israel in a single sentence would do a disservice to the complexity of what it represents to us Catholics.

Israel is at once a very real, historical nation, which was chosen by God in a special way, and a supremely important, pervasive symbol that modern-day Christians can learn from and should pay attention to. There are many layers to Israel’s identity, to be sure, but I’d like to highlight three for the purposes of this response: Israel as a nation, Israel as a people –– and, most importantly, Israel as a family.