You shall be my Witnesses

Thursday reflection within Easter Octave. Dear brothers and sisters, today the word of God speaks about the fulfillment of God's promises through Jesus Christ. All the prophets and the promises that God made, pointed at Christ and what he would do for the salvation of all mankind. The first reading talks about the continuation of the testimony of faith made by Peter and John before the people who have assembled sewing the great miracle that happened to a paralytic man healed from his condition after being sick for so many years. Peter spoke of how it was through Christ that, they were able to heal the paralyzed man, and made him whole again. Peter reminded the people that the Lord had promised all that had happened, through His prophets and messengers, from the days of Moses and even earlier, as God promised Abraham, their forefather. All that God had promised would come true in Jesus Christ, who had brought the truth about the salvation of God to the midst of His people. The people listening to Peter were the same people who had been in Jerusalem and witnessed everything that happened during the Lord’s Passion, His crucifixion, and death. Peter and the other Apostles, with the early Christian communities, proclaimed the truth of what they had witnessed and known before all the people, to reveal to them the truth of God and His salvation. They did not have it easy as they often encountered a lot of opposition and challenges, and yet, they continued to persevere and reached out to others with the same truth because they themselves had seen the Lord as we heard in our Gospel today, of the moment when the Risen Lord Himself appeared in the flesh before them. They grew strong despite the challenges and persecutions they received. And with the many martyrs, more and more became inspired to follow the Lord rather than to abandon Him. Brothers and sisters in Christ, as the Lord Himself is telling us in today’s Gospel passage that the disciples were witnesses to everything that had happened, we too have a share of this truth by what we have received from the Church, the sacred tradition, and faith that came to us from the Apostles themselves, preserved unchanged for more than two thousand years. The Lord had entrusted to us, His Church to be His witnesses in the world today, to proclaim His truth among the nations, to reach out to those who have not yet known the truth. We are all called to be good witnesses of our Lord’s truth and Resurrection in our respective communities, and as such, we should be good role models and examples for our fellow men and women, and through our actions, words, and deeds grounded in our Christian faith, we should be the shining beacons of truth to all others. Let us all as we journey through this season of Easter be renewed in our commitment to the Lord and be more willing to do our best to serve the Lord for His greater glory. May God bless us all and our every endeavor, now and always.

Amen.