Times of Refreshment

March 27, 2008

Thursday in the Octave of Easter

The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you. Acts 3:15-16

You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:48

Piety

The guarantee of one’s prayer is not in saying a lot of words.

The guarantee of one’s petition is very easy to know:

How do I treat the poor?

– because that is where God is.

The degree to which you approach them or the scorn to with which you approach them, that is how you approach your God. What you do to them, you do to God. The way you look at them is the way you look at God.

-- Archbishop Oscar Romero

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/032708.shtml

The sorrow of the betrayal one week ago has given way to the refreshing Resurrection.

The Church is bathed in the glory of white, the spring flowers, the lightness of being. But now is not the time to merely contemplate the beauty of the Church and the goodness of our God.

Jesus did all of this suffering for a reason. Once he redeemed us from our sins, he asked us to go out into the world to profess his holy name. By faith he asks us to love. Because of faith, he empowers us to love.

Witnesses are no good for anyone if they do not testify to what they have seen. A lawyer does not bring a witness to a trial to sit there and show them off to the jury saying “Look at all the witnesses that I have brought before you today!” Rather the witness must fulfill a purpose and speak out. They must stand and deliver.

In our world, there are many witnesses who “don’t want to get involved.” They speed past the scene of an accident or crash so they are not delayed along the way to some important appointment. However, like the Samaritan along the road, we are asked to stop to help the broken and battered whom we encounter along our path in life.

Action

Are you a witness? What are you going to do about it?