The Easter People: self-challenging witnesses

EASTER OCTAVE 2022

Thursday, April 21: Acts 3: 11-26; Luke 24: 35-48

Have you noticed a mistake already in this post... actually it is not in this post but yesterday's. Yesterday's post was already reflecting on the readings of today! Though we regret that mistake, we take it as a providential opportunity to dwell more on a topic so important: our call to be witnesses - that is the crux of the Easter People.

"You are witnesses", declares the Lord in the Gospel and "We are witnesses", proclaims Peter before the people, in the first reading! Being witnesses, as reflected already yesterday is a fundamental trait and a defining character of Easter People. 

Let us look at a phenomenon which is not rare in almost all cultures - consider for instance, a new convert to Christianity (or to the Catholic Church). He or she is enthusiastic about everything and to some extent even "overdoes" in his or her practices of piety - or atleast this is how the so called "long time" catholics judge them. And some of them very soon find their spirit dampened or look to switch to some other Christian denomination for a better experience or more vivacious expression of their new found faith! Judging no one involved in this phenomenon, all that we can say is: there is every chance that we lose sight of our call to be witnesses to our faith! How can we not get to the point of losing this passion to witness?

We are Witnesses! We would become witnesses only when we have seen, we have experienced, we have been touched and we are so affected that we want to shout it out!

Can I claim that I have seen the Lord? Do you think it is difficult to see the Lord?

Can I say that I have experienced the Lord? Have you really capitalised on the continuous presence and protection of the Lord?

Do I feel touched by the Lord? What does the Lord mean to my daily life?

How much am I affected by the Lord? How are my priorities and principles shaped and transformed by the Lord?

These are some self ruminations that can make us true witnesses. Are we ready to take up the challenge of being witnesses to the Lord?

The Easter People: corner stones who depend on the Corner Stone

EASTER OCTAVE 2022

Friday, April 22: Acts 4:1-12; John 21:1-14

In whose name?...that is the crucial question today in the readings. The question lingers on even today, as each of us live our Christian call. The first reading presents the wondrous doing of God, and how the rejected stone turns into the corner stone.

There is a twofold lesson offered to us as Easter People: to grow to be cornerstones and to recognise our corner stone!

We are called to imitate the life of the Corner Stone, becoming ourselves corner stones to the Reign that the Lord wishes to establish within us and through us. Just as Jesus lived to do the will of the one who sent him, we are called to discover the unique plan that God has for us and live it to the full.

Secondly, we need to readily recognise the corner stone of our lives, the Risen Lord Jesus! That feeling, "it is the Lord" and the readiness to jump into the waters of daily life to encounter the Risen Lord standing on the shore, are but just two of the many compelling examples that the apostles and their early communities give us.

When we live our life "in His name" on a daily basis... we not only recognise the corner stone of our life but also train ourselves to be corner stones that create communities of joy and hope, wherever we are! Hence, coming back to where we started... 'in whose name' is still the crucial question. Let us ask ourselves: living our daily life with its share of cares and concerns, doing all that we do on a daily basis or on demand, holding on to something in all these and creating a safe structure for ourselves... in all these and in all that we do, we do it all, in whose name?