Christ, Who Once
Died, Now Is Living In Our Midst
(III Sunday of Easter, April 10, 2016;
see Jn 21:1-19)
Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Christ,
The stories
of how many and different people had the chance to encounter Christ after He
rose from the dead and how their lives definitely changed since would be the
topic of what I would like to share with you on this Third Sunday of Easter.
Early in the
morning of the First Day of the week in the Jewish calendar, which would later
become the First Sunday of Easter in Christian Sacred Liturgy, three people
went to the tomb where our Lord Jesus was laid to rest. They were Saints Peter, John and Mary of
Magdala. Saint Peter symbolizes the Church
authority, dealing with matters of laws, discipline and order. Saint John, one of the first revered
Christian theologians whose job is to look for the reasons why we believe and
how we should expound our faith. Saint
Mary of Magdala, on the contrary, stands for ordinary believers in Christ with
little or no academic training on the Holy Bible or Church’s doctrine. Both Saint Peter and Saint John, arriving to
the end of their search, saw nothing but the empty tomb. Knowledge of the Risen Lord obtained from
books, from others’ opinion, necessary though, cannot help—if it is not too
harsh to say that such mere human achievement proves sometimes to be useless—in
moments of faith crisis. As for Saint
Mary of Magdala, her faith in the Risen Lord, lived in a sincere and popular
manner, may turn, in certain situations, an obstacle serious enough, to prevent
her from recognizing Him in the dark hours of her life. She indeed mistook the beloved Master for the
gardener.[1]
Saint
Thomas, the prominent figure of those who put more weight on scientific proofs
than on revealed truths, had to face some doubtful circumstances. Science and technology have their own
autonomy and authority in teaching people the natural realities provided they
do not go beyond the limit of their designated field. The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and
that of the dead on the last day of human history pertain in no way to the
world of things seen, heard and experienced by human beings. These are rather subjects for religions to
legitimately expound and proclaim.
The two
disciples travelling to the remote village of Emmaus would teach us another
important lesson on how dangerous it could be for the study and understanding
of the Holy Bible without personal faith in the Risen Lord. Over-proud of and overconfident in their own
human accomplishments as Bible experts, the two scholars went too far from the
truth that Christ must suffer first before entering His kingdom of glory. By so wrongly maintaining their erroneous
stance, they could not even see the Risen Lord walking at their side. Christ from now on lives with us, speaks to
us, and teaches us, guides us His faithful disciples, when we read the Bible,
when we listen to the Church founded by Himself. He forgives us in the
Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation, He feeds us with His Body and Blood
so that we may have life eternal with God.
The
disciples in this Sunday’s Gospel could not recognize the Risen Lord because
they were saddened by too many misfortunes.
Their eyes were opened only when they saw the Master direct their
business in the right way leading to surprise success, take care of their
breakfast.
Let us,
therefore, not allow any form of typhoon, earthquake or disaster—meaning to say
many challenges, fears, doubts, failures, persecutions, oppressions,
rejections, loneliness, sickness, even death, too often happening in life, to hinder
us from putting our entire trust and confidence in the Risen Lord Who was
raised by God the Father Almighty to be forever the Master of history, the Lord
of the universe and the Savior of humanity.
“Do not be
afraid, I have conquered the world!”[2]
Let us listen to Him Who has absolutely defeated the forces of evil to free us
from sin and death. Christ Who, in the
very strong words of the Apostle Paul, yesterday, today and forever remains the
same with His unchanging message, “Fear not, it is I.”[3]
Have we met
the Risen Lord in our journey of life?
It is truly hard to know whether or not any among us has received such a
blessing. The proof for this great favor
of meeting the Risen Lord is that we, similarly to those disciples who totally
had a radical conversion—perfect renewal of their personalities—after
encountering Him, must have changed our way of life, to the point that we can
say like Saint Paul, “It is no longer I who live but it is Christ Who lives in
me.”[4]
In Saint
Paul’s words, “whoever is in Christ is a new creation.”[5]
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
