Readings: Acts.3:13-15.17-19; Ps.4; 1John
2:1-5; 24:35-48
Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
OUR TASK AND MISSION IS TO PREACH
REPENTANCE, FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.
At the final article of the Apostles’
Creed which we profess every Sunday and solemnities. We do say: “I believe… in
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life
everlasting.”
But the questions that come to mind are:
do we truly believe in what we profess? Do we understand what we mean by
repentance, forgiveness of sins and resurrection of the body? Have we in any
way experienced any of these events in our lives personally? Do we have any
evidence to back up this article of faith which we have come to embrace? Can we
categorically defend this article of faith before anyone who wishes to know
more about it? The answer to these questions is blowing in the wind.
But in order to ensure that the answer to
these questions is not blowing in the wind for those who have made the
fundamental option for God, Jesus demonstrated to his disciples, in their
Easter encounter, that he had physically and bodily risen from the dead and
reaffirmed all the things he had told them before his crucifixion about
repentance, forgiveness and resurrection as we have it in our Gospel passage
today, when he said: “Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they
thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so troubled, and
why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it
is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as
you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet.
Their joy was so great that they still
could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them,
‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish,
which he took and ate before their eyes.
He then opened their minds to understand
the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the
Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that in his
name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the
nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.
This same message of repentance and
forgiveness is what St. Peter proclaimed and witnessed in our first reading
after he and John were confronted by the chief priests and the elders for
curing a crippled bagger at the temple. Here Peter after condemning the people
for the part they played in the death of Jesus, has to excuse them on the
grounds that they acted in ignorance. Then in their presence, he proclaimed the
resurrection and urged them to repent, for if they do their sins will be
forgiven. Similarly, we heard St John in our second reading telling us to stop
sinning, but if anyone should sin, we have an advocate with the Father, that is
Jesus Christ, who is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, for when anyone
does obey what his commandments say, God’s love comes to perfection in him.
Dear friends, our task and mission is to
preach repentance, forgiveness and resurrection. But how can we preach what we
have not experienced or believed? So, there is a need for us to repent of our
sins so that we can experience forgiveness and there will be no forgiveness of
sin if there is no belief in the resurrection of the body. So the questions
that come to mind are: do we believe in the grace of repentance, forgiveness
and resurrection? How will the dead rise? What form will the rise take? Who
will rise? And how?
The answer to these questions is clearly
stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) nos 997-999, which tells
us that the Church through revelation has come to know and teaches us that in
death, that is, the separation of the
soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God while
awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. For God, in his almighty power,
will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with
our souls, through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection.
But, who will rise? All the dead will
rise, “those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who
have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. How will this be? Christ is
raised with his own body: for he said: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I”
After this he did not return to an earthly life. So, in him, “all of us will
rise again with our own bodies which we now bear,” but Christ “will change our
lowly bodies to be like his glorious body,”
Meanwhile, some people will ask, “How will
the dead be raised? With what kind of body will they take?” Jesus says: What
you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body
which is to be, but a bare kernel. What is sown is perishable, what is raised
is imperishable. The dead will be raised
imperishable. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this
mortal nature must put on immortality. (1Cor15:35-53).
Therefore, we have to truly believe and
witness this article of faith. But, it is not enough to believe in it, we have
to experience it, but experience is not enough, we have to live by it every day
of our lives. Living by it is not enough we have to preach it to the whole
world. This is the only way it can make an impact in our lives, in our families
and societies and so become the principle that guides all our decisions, our
actions and choices in life.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we journey with
you, especially at this difficult moment in human history, may your presence
strengthen our faith and constantly renew our hope, give us the grace and
courage to dedicate ourselves, our time, and energy in knowing and serving you,
as you fill our heart with the Joy of your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Happy Mother’s Day to all our mother
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