Fr. Louis Brioni sx
Reflection on the Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter, 2023,
This coming Sunday, April 16th, I am going to baptize some 20 boys and girls at Marampa Village, a Christian community of Binkolo Parish, not far from Makeni, the centre of our diocese. It will be a very blessed day (my last?), the joyful conclusion of many months of preparation and prayer together. During these months, one question was often addressed to those catechumens, “Why do you want to be baptized?” Most of the replies were, “Because I want God to forgive my sins” or “I want to be a member of the church”, and more. Finally, some would also say, “Because I love Jesus.” To which answer I would add another question, “And why do you love Jesus?” Here there was total silence, until someone did say, “Because Jesus loves me!” Yes, there is no better answer than this. Really, we all Christians love Jesus, crucified and risen, because, by both God’s grace and the mediation of good Christians, we have come to believe that Jesus loves us. This is best summarized in the beautiful expression of faith by Thomas in today’s gospel, “My Lord and my God”, mine and of each one of us.
The whole mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption is there, at the Upper Room, with all the Apostles together around Jesus. He stands in their mixt. No doors could keep Him out. It is the same Jesus those guys have denied and abandoned. But He is not even scolding them, actually, He immediately gives them His Shalom, the gift of peace, the fullness of life only God can give. And that “peace” was not only meant for the Apostles, but for all of us, who truly do believe and rejoice in His resurrection. Yes, He died, out of total love for us, but He is not dead, He is alive, life-giving, as “ … the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead … so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Col 1:18).
By His resurrection, Jesus did fulfil His Father’s project to give humanity its final “evolutionary leap”*, our true vocation to be His image and likeness forever. From that “first day” of the week, Jesus cannot be an optional for the world any longer, but its supreme realization … for we believe “ … that Christ’s transformed body is also the place where men (and women) enter into communion with God and with one another and are thus able to live definitively in the fullness of indestructible life.”*
With all this in mind, in the personal faith we all humbly and gratefully cherish, we need to live, act, and relate always as Easter people, without shame or fear or compromise. Like the Apostles, we might have days of unbelief, uncertainties, confusion, and even denial, but we firmly believe He is with us and for us, He is qualifying our everyday, He is blessing us fully with His peace and love. Really, do we need anything more than this in life? Is anything else more satisfying the deepest desires of our heart than Jesus, crucified and risen, and now the “living bread” at every Mass?
Especially at Eastertime we can meaningfully remember Jesus’ words not only to a Saint, but to all and each one of us, “I couldn’t have loved you more!” Yes, “My Lord and my God!”, my peace and my joy!
*Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Holy Week, Paulines Publications Africa, 2011, pages 205-6
Reflection on the Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter, 2023,
This coming Sunday, April 16th, I am going to baptize some 20 boys and girls at Marampa Village, a Christian community of Binkolo Parish, not far from Makeni, the centre of our diocese. It will be a very blessed day (my last?), the joyful conclusion of many months of preparation and prayer together. During these months, one question was often addressed to those catechumens, “Why do you want to be baptized?” Most of the replies were, “Because I want God to forgive my sins” or “I want to be a member of the church”, and more. Finally, some would also say, “Because I love Jesus.” To which answer I would add another question, “And why do you love Jesus?” Here there was total silence, until someone did say, “Because Jesus loves me!” Yes, there is no better answer than this. Really, we all Christians love Jesus, crucified and risen, because, by both God’s grace and the mediation of good Christians, we have come to believe that Jesus loves us. This is best summarized in the beautiful expression of faith by Thomas in today’s gospel, “My Lord and my God”, mine and of each one of us.
The whole mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption is there, at the Upper Room, with all the Apostles together around Jesus. He stands in their mixt. No doors could keep Him out. It is the same Jesus those guys have denied and abandoned. But He is not even scolding them, actually, He immediately gives them His Shalom, the gift of peace, the fullness of life only God can give. And that “peace” was not only meant for the Apostles, but for all of us, who truly do believe and rejoice in His resurrection. Yes, He died, out of total love for us, but He is not dead, He is alive, life-giving, as “ … the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead … so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Col 1:18).
By His resurrection, Jesus did fulfil His Father’s project to give humanity its final “evolutionary leap”*, our true vocation to be His image and likeness forever. From that “first day” of the week, Jesus cannot be an optional for the world any longer, but its supreme realization … for we believe “ … that Christ’s transformed body is also the place where men (and women) enter into communion with God and with one another and are thus able to live definitively in the fullness of indestructible life.”*
With all this in mind, in the personal faith we all humbly and gratefully cherish, we need to live, act, and relate always as Easter people, without shame or fear or compromise. Like the Apostles, we might have days of unbelief, uncertainties, confusion, and even denial, but we firmly believe He is with us and for us, He is qualifying our everyday, He is blessing us fully with His peace and love. Really, do we need anything more than this in life? Is anything else more satisfying the deepest desires of our heart than Jesus, crucified and risen, and now the “living bread” at every Mass?
Especially at Eastertime we can meaningfully remember Jesus’ words not only to a Saint, but to all and each one of us, “I couldn’t have loved you more!” Yes, “My Lord and my God!”, my peace and my joy!
*Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Holy Week, Paulines Publications Africa, 2011, pages 205-6