"God raised him from the dead"
Acts 3:15
The Easter season is the longest season in the liturgical
year. This is because we are invited to share in the joy
and peace of the Risen Lord. Therefore, the whole Church
and the liturgy are filled with "the joy and peace of the
Risen Christ." Our parish community celebrated this
gladness with the addition of dozens of children, youth
and adults who received the sacraments as tangible fruits
of joy that only this season can bring.
During Easter Time, we don't hear any readings from the
Old Testament. Instead, the first reading is taken from the
Acts of the Apostles, which is like reading a diary of the
early Church. In the first part of the Acts the main
character is St. Peter while in the second part it is St.
Paul. Both apostles taught and preached and expanded
Christianity in, around and beyond Jerusalem. Today
Peter explains to his Jewish audience that what had been
told by the prophets throughout the centuries came to
fulfillment in the person of Jesus.
Interestingly enough, Peter explained that the Messiah
suffered just as the prophets of the Old Testament said he
would. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells his disciples on
the road to Emmaus the same message. According to
Jesus everything written about him had to be fulfilled,
including his "suffering, death and resurrection". Both the
book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke validate their faith
in the Risen Christ in the multiple “witnesses”. But we
are witnesses today that "God raised Jesus Christ from the
dead" every time that we remain as people of hope, faith
and memory like the first disciples who proclaimed their
faith in the Risen Jesus even with their lives. That is why
Pope Francis said that “we cannot be like a reckless
disciple by being immersed in an overwhelming routine
that takes away our memory and mutes our hope." For
Francis "the message of the resurrection is the foundation
and strength where every Christian has to put his/her life
and energy, intelligence, affection and willingness to
seek, and especially in generating roads to human
dignity."
Fr. Hernán P., SJ