Parable and Conscience Meditation April 23

Glorious Cross  April 23

I am risen, and I am always with you, alleluia; you have placed your hand upon me alleluia; your wisdom has been shown to be most wonderful, alleluia, alleluia. (Entrance Antiphon, Easter Sunday).

There were no eyewitnesses to the actual event of the Resurrection of Jesus.  The Gospels offer only the testimonies of those who saw him afterwards.  And the testimonies differ from one another in the details, depending on the objectives of the particular scripture writers and the traditions of their local communities.  All agree, nonetheless, on the fundamentals.  It happened on Sunday.  There were apparitions to the women.  The tomb was empty.  There were angels.  And all the witnesses affirm that there was a physical resurrection of the crucified one, that the Risen Christ was in a state of glorification and that the Resurrection event was crucial to Christian faith.  The rest of New Testament and later Church doctrine was developed on this foundation.  But the most powerful proofs of the Resurrection were always its fruits in the lives of the believers.  What speaks are the personal conversions of the Christians, the creativity and strength of their commitment, the miracles done through their faith and, thanks to their love, their martyrdoms.  What’s more, the quality of their community life and the humanization of the society where they live give formidable evidence to support the proposition that Jesus is really risen.  The verbal proclamation is important, but the fruits of this faith, which translates itself into daily life, are difficult to dismiss.

A person lives more willingly with someone who feeds him that with someone who only offers chatter.  (Shi)