3rd Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)

Acts 3:13-15, 17-19                  1Jn 2:1-5                  Lk 24:35-48

Till date, the mystery remains about the missing aircraft Boeing 777-200ER which took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia destined to land in Beijing Capital International Airport in China on 8^th March 2014. The aircraft has not been recovered, and the cause of the disappearance remains unknown. Of all the aircraft accidents and crash so far happened, this incident remains the most mysterious and shocking. In the most advanced technological world, after all the professionals, experts and techies having invested their mind, time and energy; single evidence is unfound, undiscovered till date in this aircraft case.

The search for evidence is a curiosity of the human mind. The human mind stumbles and becomes restless when evidences are unfound. Several cases in the judiciary are unable to progress due to lack of evidences. So many investigations remain unanswered in various researches due to lack of proper evidences. As every human life has a purpose which gives meaning to one’s life, so also, evidences are important to establish a fact on this earth or to prove anything under the sun. To establish any truth or for any enquiry, evidences are crucial.

In temporal matters, especially in scientific field, experiments provide facts and evidences to prove a particular physical law. In the same temporal matter, with regard to any human incidents, the testimony about the event given by a person stand as a witness to prove the fact. In spiritual matters, evidences of temporal nature do not fit. Here is where our point of reflection for today begins. As evidences of temporal nature do not fit within spiritual matters, each of us should become live evidences. To put it in other words, we should become the witnesses for matters concerning Christian faith.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a very significant portion and foundation of Christian faith. The fact about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is all the more difficult to be proved to those who revolve around the scientific framework of mind. We live in an age of people surrounded by scientific framework of mind. In this background, the invitation given by Jesus in today’s gospel becomes vital for each of us as Christians. As He said to his disciples as we heard in today’s gospel, He says to each of us: You are witnesses (Lk 24:48). Witness is the catch word in today’s liturgy of the Word.

Jesus invites us to be witnesses to His resurrection. He does not ask us to be evidences for the supernatural event of His resurrection but to be witnesses of resurrected life, a new type of life that began after the resurrection of Christ. The glory, the abundance of life, the new hope, the communitarian mindset, altruistic attitude and so on are the elements of a resurrected life. The disciples of Jesus experienced these after our Lord’s resurrection. We need to become witnesses to these elements.

Today’s first reading from the Acts, presents St Peter as a powerful witness of Christ. From the gospels, we are quite aware of the personality, temperament and nature of Peter. He was a man who was so timid and confused. Though our Lord wanted to make Peter strong by naming him as Cephas, which means ‘Rock,’ still he was wavering and failed to have strong conviction. For those who are well aware of the nature of Peter, it is quite shocking and surprising to encounter a different Peter altogether in the first reading. St Peter boldly points to the Jews who killed Jesus and said: You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses (Acts 3:14,15). Here, Peter establishes himself as the witness of Christ. He makes an open confession. He makes this confession with clarity of mind unlike his earlier nature. The liturgy of the Word today, presents Peter as the model for us to be witnesses to Christ.

It is interesting to note that when Jesus was made to stand before Pontius Pilate for trial, he did not seek for any evidences or witnesses as support to prove his innocence in order to escape from the forthcoming sentence of crucifixion. Rather to be witnesses for His resurrection, He expected His disciples to be so. They too fulfilled His expectation. Now it is our turn to be so.

Generally speaking, credibility and authenticity is the mark of being a good witness. We should be realistic in being witnesses to Christ. It should not be unrealistic or artificial. It should show off very naturally from our true Christian way of living. A strong convinced Christian way of life will expose it naturally. Not much effort is needed.

An American teacher was employed in Japan on the understanding that during school hours he should not utter a word on the subject of Christianity. The engagement was faithfully kept, and he lived before his students the Christian life, but never spoke of it to them. Not a word was said to influence the young men committed to his care. But so beautiful was his character, and so blameless his example, that forty of the students, unknown to him, met in a grove and signed a secret covenant to follow Christian values. Twenty-five of them entered the Kyoto Christian Training School, and some of them became preachers of the Gospel which their teacher had unconsciously commended. This is a story of true witness.

Once Mahatma Gandhi was asked this question by a foreign missionary: Which is the greatest hindrance for Christianity to spread in India? His answer was very quick and prompt. He simply said: Christian themselves! Let us not be shocked by this fact. It is a fact because we Christians lack a witnessing life to Christ and His values. The blame is not on those Christians who live a true witnessing life and could be counted in few numbers. The accusation rests on those who proclaim themselves as Christians just for name sake and does not counter it in their Christian lives.

St Ignatius of Antioch said: The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so, they who profess themselves to be Christians are known by what they do. For Christianity is not the work of an outward profession; but shows itself in the power of faith, if a man be found faithful unto the end. It is better for a man to hold his peace and be; than to say he is a Christian and not to be.

Our call is not to be name sake Christians. Witnessing life is like two sides of the same coin. One refers to the experience of Christ. The other refers to the sharing and proclamation of the same. Without the first, the second would have no effect. Do we sufficiently have the first?