You Are Witnesses

April 12, 2012

Easter Thursday

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….Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. Acts 3:15-16,19-21

And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." Luke 24:46-48

Piety

Father, in our piety, help us to be a suitable witnesses to your mission. Give us the strength and judgment to testify to the world in our words and deeds. May your example change us and our example change others. Amen.

Study

The normal chronology of the first reading and Gospel in ordinary time is…well ordinary. The readings are from the Hebrew Bible and take place before (sometimes millennia before) the Good News. During Easter when we have readings from the Acts of the Apostles, these first reading events take place after the Gospel. The normal order of things is flopped.

Our first reading drives home how the "orderliness" or ordinary time has been disrupted. The author of life was put to death. The Word which was with us since the beginning of time, was killed but is back. However, for all that has changed, the message remains rooted in exactly what Jesus would have been preaching.

Today, we see how the disciples are now serving as witnesses to the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus by performing signs for the people and preaching repentance -- continued change -- just as Christ did, just as John the Baptist did.

These disciples never quite understood what Jesus was doing or saying before his death. These disciples never quite understood what to say or how to act as Jesus was led to his death. Now, these disciples become for us the role models of change as they carry out the message which they now preach. They have picked up right where Jesus left off.

Now they hear Him in a different way. They see Him in a different way. They touch Him in a different way. They taste Him in a different way as they share meals with Jesus.

Action

Now, the mission of Easter Sunday falls to us in the perpetual Fourth Day of the Resurrection. On the Third Day, Jesus rose. We are witnesses to that in the Mass. We are witnesses to that with our piety, study and action. On the Fourth Day, we -- like the disciples -- are asked to go out into the world and teach the Gospel of Love.

Where will you take this message today?