SATURDAY of the EASTER OCTAVE
Acts 4:13-21; Mk 16:19-15
"They recognised them as companions of Jesus", says a verse (13) in the first reading today. From the things that happened around them, from the words that the disciples were proclaiming and from the life that they were living, 'they recognised them as companions of Jesus.'
Mark summarises the week after Easter in the passage that we read today in the Gospel. Again, the crux is to speak of, to announce, to proclaim Christ, whom they have experienced. Mary of Magdala 'went and told his companions'; the two of them 'returned and told'... Finally the Lord gives us the command: Go and Proclaim!
The two fold call that we have today is, firstly, to identify ourselves as companions of Jesus, to know that we are walking everyday with the Lord, that we are not alone on our life's journey and that all that happens in our daily experience has a tremendous impact on ourselves and others; Secondly, the call is to 'proclaim'...to begin with, through our mindsets, attitudes and lifestyle and then explicitly through our words and speech,
But the crux of it all is the statement that the apostles make at the Sanhedrin, "it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard"! Have we seen and heard, that is, experienced Jesus personally? Is it a compelling need for us to speak of Jesus to others? Are we really filled with the zeal to stand for Christ and speak of Christ today?