Fr. Solomon Kargbo, sx
The invitation for this Sunday is to have a sure hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This hope is ours, it will never fail us. It is the one that unify us with Jesus to pass through all trials, sufferings, to life everlasting. Jesus uses many expressions to communicate to people so that they will be able to understand his project of salvation. He was always taking the initiative to meet people, on their own ground, that was why they were happily following him.
The witness of this in the different places is the testimony of the Xaverians in Sierra Leone, who by their self giving, live, announce , celebrate the happiness of the Gospel of Christ with the people, some in their farms, in their homes and together in the church.
Celebrating together with the people helps us to understand the various worries they are facing in life, in their culture, in their beliefs. Doing this opens the encounter with the reality of the message of Christ and the many questions about life after death. Just as what the Gospel reading presents to us today.
We hear from the Gospel reading today that “some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection” questioned Jesus about life after death. As we may know, their debate was with the Pharisees about the faith in the resurrection or life after death.
Jesus Christ explained to them and to us, that the resurrection is not the re- awakening from death, from the tomb or the coming back from a previous life, but it is something other than this, it is the full life of the person in Christ Jesus – which is eternal. It is the rebirth of the person in Christ.
That is why in the Catholic Church, during the mass, we have the prayers for the faithful departed: this is very important and valuable because these prayers are founded on the certainty that the resurrection of Jesus has removed all the barriers separating the living from the dead, so that they are forming one family together.
Finally, sometimes we ask about how life will be after death, but our reply must be on the sure hope of the resurrection. That is why today Jesus reassures us about God who is not the God of the dead but of the living, that is to say, there exists a permanent relationship. Therefore, although people die, they will remain alive with Jesus Christ forever because he is the first born from the dead.
The invitation for this Sunday is to have a sure hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This hope is ours, it will never fail us. It is the one that unify us with Jesus to pass through all trials, sufferings, to life everlasting. Jesus uses many expressions to communicate to people so that they will be able to understand his project of salvation. He was always taking the initiative to meet people, on their own ground, that was why they were happily following him.
The witness of this in the different places is the testimony of the Xaverians in Sierra Leone, who by their self giving, live, announce , celebrate the happiness of the Gospel of Christ with the people, some in their farms, in their homes and together in the church.
Celebrating together with the people helps us to understand the various worries they are facing in life, in their culture, in their beliefs. Doing this opens the encounter with the reality of the message of Christ and the many questions about life after death. Just as what the Gospel reading presents to us today.
We hear from the Gospel reading today that “some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection” questioned Jesus about life after death. As we may know, their debate was with the Pharisees about the faith in the resurrection or life after death.
Jesus Christ explained to them and to us, that the resurrection is not the re- awakening from death, from the tomb or the coming back from a previous life, but it is something other than this, it is the full life of the person in Christ Jesus – which is eternal. It is the rebirth of the person in Christ.
That is why in the Catholic Church, during the mass, we have the prayers for the faithful departed: this is very important and valuable because these prayers are founded on the certainty that the resurrection of Jesus has removed all the barriers separating the living from the dead, so that they are forming one family together.
Finally, sometimes we ask about how life will be after death, but our reply must be on the sure hope of the resurrection. That is why today Jesus reassures us about God who is not the God of the dead but of the living, that is to say, there exists a permanent relationship. Therefore, although people die, they will remain alive with Jesus Christ forever because he is the first born from the dead.