Community Word: Love for God’s word emboldens our hearts for the New Evangelization.
Order: “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.” (Jn 14:12)
Reflection:
The Sunday readings after Easter should not only strengthen every Christian’s belief in the after-life, but should also remind all of us of the post-Easter events in the resurrected life of our Lord Jesus, that we may heed, understand and live out His exhortations.
The Community Word for the month: “Love for God’s word emboldens our hearts for the New Evangelization”, should inspire all believers of the Risen Jesus to aspire to do their part in the spreading the Good News. The church, with the help of the laity, should find a way to re-awaken the hearts of the multitude of church-goers and to admonish them that, as baptized Christians, they are duty bound to proclaim God’s word.
This leads us to the theme for the third Sunday of Easter: Our hearts are emboldened for the New Evangelization when we immerse ourselves in Scripture and proclaim God’s kingdom. In the gospel reading, two disciples are on their way to Emmaus. Distracted and downcast, they share their disappointment at their dashed hopes that Jesus would be the long-awaited messiah who would deliver Israel from Roman domination. That He could not even defend himself, was mocked, and was crucified like a common criminal was even more disheartening for the disciples. They did listen to His teachings, but it was selective listening. They only heard what they wanted to hear, and failed to grasp the fullness of His message.
Like the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, we may not always be aware that Jesus is walking with us in our life’s journey. We may be in Community, but we may not even be aware of our purpose in being there. Do we truly share our gifts to advance the Community’s vision, or are we merely marking time and going with the flow? Fresh from the reflective moments of Holy Week and Easter, we need to come to Jesus and converse with Him more through our prayers. And as we immerse ourselves in this, we shall be emboldened to take a more active role in the Church’s call for a New Evangelization.
In those times of trouble, when we again fail to recognize Him in our lives, we just have to be reminded that He is waiting for us in the Eucharist. And that, as He “takes, blesses, breaks the bread”, we too, like the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, shall come to recognize him in the breaking of the bread.
On the fourth Sunday of the Easter Season – also called the Good Shepherd Sunday – Jesus makes it clear that the good shepherd is called to lead, to love and to die for His flock. To this day, He remains the One True Divine Shepherd of all humanity, offering himself to us that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. We acknowledge Him as the caring and trusted Shepherd, the Gate of the sheepfold, through which whoever enters, will be saved.
When our life seems lacking in direction, and our hearts are full of bitterness, anger, and resentment, it could mean we are failing to listen, or recognize our Shepherd’s voice. We can only follow our theme for this week – “Our hearts are emboldened for the New Evangelization when we listen to our Shepherd’s voice and follow Him. But his voice is best heard in the stillness of our hearts, so let us strive to find some quiet time with the Lord.
Our theme for the fifth Sunday of Easter – “Our hearts are emboldened for the New Evangelization when we have faith in God and do good works” – reminds us that as Christians we are meant to live a life of witnessing. But to be effective witnesses, we must have faith in God and do good works, and for this grace, we need to go to the Father. But no one goes to the Father except through Jesus. He alone, is the way to eternal life. He is the one who prepares us for a future of unending happiness and for our place in God’s kingdom. With Jesus and in Jesus, death is not the end, but the beginning of our eternal life.
On the sixth Sunday of Easter, our theme is: “Our hearts are emboldened for the New Evangelization when we love God and obey His commandments”. Jesus challenges us to become advocates and defenders of people who may need us. He is calling us to serve, rather than lord it over, or impose our will on those over whom he has given us authority. He invites us to come to Him not out of obligation, but out of a disciple’s sincere response to our love for God.
In this New Evangelization, we are called to be messengers and evangelizers for the Lord. As such, we face challenges to our faith, and confront moral and other issues. This difficult task will be easier if we do not look at these challenges as obligations, but rather, face them motivated by a disciple’s love for Jesus. We should view these challenges as surrender to love, rather than mere submission to duty. Then we can claim Jesus’ wonderful promise for the week: “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” (Jn 14:21).
The true test of our love for Christ is not in our long prayers, nor the way we project ourselves to others as rubbing elbows with ecclesial authorities, nor our enviable positions as Community leaders. It is our life’s witnessing – the way we relate to God and to our fellow human beings, especially to the least, the lost and the last – that define us. And what matters most is that in responding to His call to help others, we find deeper meaning in our lives, and our way back to the Father’s house.
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