We Are Witnesses

 

  Lk 24:35-48

³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

³⁶ While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸ He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence.

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.

We continue to focus on the resurrected Jesus. We see his efforts to convince his Apostles that indeed, something new, something "impossible" had really happened: he was alive but in a new form and that they had a job to do: to go and tell the whole world about this. Indeed they did and we continue to do so, but there are still more non-believers than believers. There are 2.8 billion Christians, only one third of the world's population.  In a world on the brink of a major war, when the number of "nones" or people with not church affiliation or faith is ever increasing, we are in a similar situation to where the apostles were that first night. We are meditating these days on the Resurrection and praying for the coming of the Spirit. May our faith grow stronger and our mission become clearer,  to spread the Good News, and in Marist terms, "make Jesus known and loved."

Bro. Rene

Dear God, help me to understand my mission  and grant me the grace to carry it out. Amen.