St. Paul
comes to our help in his Letter to the Colossians [Colossians 3:1-4]. In a few brief lines, St. Paul uses the word
“with” three times, each use building upon the previous one and leading to an
increasing depth of meaning and feeling.
“You were raised with Christ.”
No isolated event from long ago and far away—the resurrection of Jesus
in our own flesh and given to us in the grace of baptism assures us that
resurrection is ours as well. Mysteriously,
we already share in the resurrection.
What might that mean?
“Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Not a vague event in the past or simply the
promise of life in a distant future—the resurrection of Jesus means that our
life is in and with His life now, invisible to all except to those with the
eyes of faith. Nothing can steal that
from us. It’s a “buried treasure” of
sorts—life with Him, Jesus sharing life with us, day in and day out. He is risen and is with us! Where will this lead?
“You too will appear with him in glory.”
Our future life, the life of resurrection, is no mere survival or
continuation of life as it is, just “more of the same.” No, we’re promised glory— as St. Paul says in
his Letter to the Romans, “I consider that the sufferings of
this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for
us.” [Romans 8:18]
The First Letter of John describes this glory: “We
shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.” [1 John 3:2] And, even more dramatically, the Second
Letter of Peter declares that we will share in “the divine
nature.” [2 Peter
1:4]
Despite the
passage of time, the words we hear from Peter’s speech as recorded in the Acts
of the Apostles vibrate with all the joy, the power and the conviction that
must have impressed those first hearers.
The message is clear: the Jesus whom we witnessed
preaching and healing, whom we saw crucified, we have seen now – alive! [Acts 10:34-43]
That which
allows us, these many centuries later, to hear these words again has less to do
with a careful recording of mere words, than with the fact that Christians in
every generation down to our own have also been witnesses. They’re the ones who “believe
without seeing,”
[John 20:29] but they don’t simply repeat the words of others. The vitality of Christian witness is based on
encounters with the risen Jesus that have made the proclamation of this day
ever fresh: He is risen!
Pope
Francis, in writing about the call to a New Evangelization, cited Pope Benedict
XVI when he wrote: “Being a Christian is
not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an
event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”
This
life-changing encounter with the risen Lord ought not to be thought of as the
privilege of the few, but an invitation to all.
But can I dare to hope for such an encounter? How can this be my experience and not simply
that of others? Pope Francis extends to
us a challenging invitation: “I invite
all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal
encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter
them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is
not meant for him or her since no one is excluded from the joy brought by the
Lord.”
On this
Easter Day, let’s be bold in asking for this renewed encounter. Let’s desire to join with the many who have
not seen, but have believed, because they have encountered Him. Let’s be witnesses!
With encouragement from St. Paul, I ask for this Easter grace: Jesus, give me the grace, stir my heart, to know and feel more profoundly that You are with me and I with You today, tomorrow and eternally!
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