Reflection from Act 3:13-15, 17-19a;
1Jn 2:1-5a; Lk 24:35-48
If
Jesus had not resurrected the Christian faith would be empty, useless. But
Jesus is resurrected and this is the reason of discipleship and witness of the
apostles. The announcement of this great event was done with enthusiasm and joy,
proposing a new way of living. When Peter started his speech to the Jewish, he
praised God, whom the power, raised his servant Jesus from the dead. Peter
remained also that although this people rejected Jesus, they weren’t rejected
by Jesus, who expects their conversion, offering to them the possibility of
participation in his own life. They did bad choice because their ignorance
about the identity of Jesus. But through the mercy of God in Jesus, they also
have new opportunity of living. St John witnesses in his letter that through
the mediation of Jesus this mercy of God is accessible to all. The obedience to
his word and the living of his commandment of love are the conditions to know
him and to experience his mercy.
The beginning of today’s gospel is the
continuity of the experience lived by the disciples of Emmaus. They were
narrating their version of the event to others with enthusiasm and joy when
suddenly the own Jesus appeared in their midst, confirming their and offering
the peace to all. The experience of sharing
of the bread is now extended to the sharing of life and brotherhood. In the first moment, the afraid and excess of
doubts prevented them to recognise him. The lack of intimacy with this new way
of presence of the Lord caused resistance in their heart, making them to consider
him a ghost. Jesus criticised their attitude and showed to them the signs of
his victory (the hands and the feet). He acted with patience, respecting their slow
process of understanding and opened their mind them with the right
interpretation of the Scriptures about himself as sufferer and glorified
messiah. Jesus is not a ghost; he is
living presence, who eats with his beloved ones in order to recover their
identity of disciples and motivate them to the mission. Now they have strong reasons to resume the path of the discipleship and become true witnesses
to announce the necessity of conversion and reconciliation with God and
among the people.
Through the experience of these
disciples we realise that the joy of the encounter with the
Risen Lord must be communicated and it infects the
community experience, filling it with meaning. Here, the community experience and the
experience of the resurrection are correlate themselves because the Risen Lord
is present in the midst of the community. Without the help of the
community we have difficulty to recognise the presence of the Risen Lord. The community gives support to a witness ever
more authentic and joyful about the encounter with the Lord, enabling full experience of sense to those who should be his witnesses.
It is he who enlightens our understanding so that we can
understand the Scriptures, finding in them a true sense
of his presence among us. He passed by the experience of
the cross in solidarity with the crucified of all times. So, no one can claim to follow a Christ without cross. No one can claim to be a true disciple without embracing the cause which
the Master embraced. The resurrection of Jesus renewed
all hopes and proved that suffering, evil and death are
not willed by God, whom is able to turn misfortune into
grace, making glittering life where there was only death.
The God of life calls us to
live in community and He is present in our midst in order to be the centre of
our lives and to make us the instruments of his peace. Like
the first disciples, we too are faced with situations
that bring concerns and doubts. When we are willing to the
experience of personal encounter with the Risen Lord, through the Eucharist and
fraternal sharing, we are strengthened in faith and we
help the faith of the community. This
experience enables us to overcome the obstacles along the way, transforming us
into witnesses of the love that generates life. May
this Eucharistic celebration motivate us to the experience of meeting with the
Risen Lord present in our midst. The
more intense is this experience, the more contagious will be our testimony.
Fr Ndega
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário