Word: Disciples of the Risen Christ are sent to evangelize unbelievers.
Order: “… believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” (Jn 20:31)
Reflection:
This April, in connection with the Year of Faith and New Evangelization direction of the Catholic Church, as well as the call of our newly installed Pope Francis to love the poor, we are called not only to evangelize non-believers and unbelievers, but to a new level of love of neighbor, especially the poor. The question is how? Too many obstacles stand in the way of our successfully pursuing these daunting tasks because our fears, doubts, unforgiveness and unfaithfulness to the Word, often overwhelm us. The readings of the next 4 Sundays of Easter show us how.
Let us begin with the first Sunday of the month, which is also the 2nd Sunday of Easter. Jesus is in the Upper Room with His disciples, except Thomas … “Peace be with you,” he says. “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” …Then He breathed on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Those whose sins you forgive they are forgiven, those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”…
Fear has a way of confusing our thoughts, shaking our faith and derailing us from our goals. We are shaken by the unexpected, or by the spectacular. We are paralyzed at the prospect of facing the unknown. But Jesus knows our limitations, and He comforts us with the same assurance He gives John in the Second Reading… “Do not be afraid”.
When it was Thomas’ turn to meet the Risen Lord, Jesus greets him with the same words He used when he appeared the second time to the disciples… “Peace be with you.” Jesus must have been aware of unbelief of Thomas, perhaps even knew of Thomas’s sense of betrayal and bitterness at Jesus leaving them behind. It is likely that it is this bitterness that prevented Thomas from believing the report by the other disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, and adamantly refused to believe until Jesus Himself invited him to see and touch the mark of the nails on His hands and feet, and the lance on his side. Isn’t this exactly what we do, when we harbor hate in our hearts, or withhold forgiveness from anyone who may have offended us? Are we not, in effect, refusing to see or feel God’s presence in our life in situations like these?
The 2nd Sunday of Easter is also the Divine Mercy Sunday. The focal point of Jesus’s ministry is to bring the mercy and love of God to all men, despite great unbelief throughout the world, He rose from the dead to conquer man’s unbelief. He has broken the chains of sin and calls us back to receive His mercy and love that endures forever (Psalm 117).
Like the apostles, we too are given that task of bringing the Good News – the Gospel of Christ – to the ends of the earth, against all odds, against persecution, against all obstacles, for Jesus reminds us not to be afraid. He is with us. He assures us of His peace. His word tells us to “… believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” (Jn 20:3).
The 3rd Sunday of Easter marks the third time Jesus appears to His disciples while they were out fishing. We take note that Peter was originally a fisherman, so we can assume that after Jesus’s death, he went back to his old life as a fisherman, as the rest of the disciples must have also done. But the Risen Christ reveals himself to them once again at the Sea of Tiberias where the disciples had fished all night without bringing in a catch. At this, Jesus instructs them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” And they did! They caught so much fish, their boats were almost sinking. The Gospel ends with the Lord asking Peter three times ‘Do you love me’ to which Peter responds ‘Yes’ thrice, prompting the Lord to issue corresponding instructions, respectively: “Feed my lambs”, “Tend my sheep”, “Feed my sheep”…and” Follow me”. Here, Jesus gives Peter a chance to redeem himself for having denied Him three times. Jesus’ merciful love brings Peter back to become the shepherd of His church.
Discouraged, demoralized and cast adrift without Jesus in their midst, the disciples must have been at their lowest ebb. But each time Jesus revealed himself to them, they grew stronger in their faith and love for Jesus, and the realization of the magnitude of Christ’s love enabled them to stay focused and bear fruit as they came to know their Lord in a deeper way. Most of all, their faith experience opened their eyes to God’s infinitely better plan for them, and they accomplished far more than they would otherwise have done, had they followed the dictates of their own flawed human will.
On the 4th Sunday of Easter, Jesus reveals himself as the Good Shepherd. Shortly after commissioning Peter to tend His lambs, feed His sheep and tend His sheep, Jesus continues to demonstrate His great love for His people, by pointing to Himself as the voice we should all listen to. Indeed, if we belong to Him, and are part of His part of His flock, we should know His voice, and we would follow Him (Jn 10:27-30) – His teachings and His word which is truth and which guides us to His righteousness. We are blessed to have been called and baptized into the Catholic faith, for we have Peter who was given the keys to the Church Jesus Himself established on earth. Be that as it may, the many voices we hear today all clamoring to be heard, all claiming to be right, pose great challenge to us all. It is for us to persevere in faith, like Paul and Barnabas in the first Reading, for we are all called and commissioned to proclaim the Good News of our salvation in Christ Jesus.
Like Peter, we are instructed to take care of each other, to tend and feed the flock of the Lord. We are both the sheep and the shepherds, working in the vineyard of the Lord, light to all nations and salt of the earth, and together, we walk towards the prize of eternal life as promised by Jesus, the Christ. We have therefore a responsibility to nurture ourselves in the word of God, to retreat to silence in order to listen and hear His voice, for only as we do can we truly follow Him to where He is leading us.
And finally, the 5th Sunday of Easter gives us the greatest commandment of all. The commandment encompassing all the others, rolled into one – the commandment of love. If you have love, it moves you to do mighty, wondrous and sometimes impossible deeds. In life, we encounter many trials and hardships. Not all things run smoothly. It is easy to follow Christ when things are going well for us. But when the going get rough, or troubles beset us, our faith is sorely tested.
But Jesus said “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you, by this love you have for one another, everyone will know you are my disciple.” (Jn 13: 35). Jesus’s brand of love is sacrificial love. Its symbol is the Cross; it involves a dying to self. It is in being able to die to our own wants and desires, to our will over the will of the Father, that we are able to truly love one another as Christ loves us. Such a tall order indeed, but nothing is impossible with the Lord. He is love itself, and He gave us Himself. By the power of that love and of the Holy Spirit, God makes it possible for us to put others before ourselves, because Christ is now in us. It is the power of His love at work in us that enables us to do what ordinarily would be difficult for us to do. With the merciful love of the Lord in us, we are assured of overcoming all hardships in life, for all things work for the good of those who love the Lord, and are sent according to his purpose. And truly, His mercy endures forever.
Prayer:
Lord, you have given us our marching orders this month of April to evangelize unbelievers; and we say yes to the Will of the Father. We admit that with our many fears and doubts, we can only accomplish the good work you have began in us as You breathe Your Holy Spirit upon us, bringing us Your peace, Your joy, and Your love. Amen.
