It is The Lord!!
What a strange way for St.
John to have expressed himself! He writes: this was now the third time Jesús
was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. Not this was
the third time the disciples saw Jesús, but the third time Jesús was revealed
to them, or appeared to them.
When we see a friend, we do
not tell others that our friend was revealed to us or appeared to us. . We just
say: “I saw my friend”. So what is John trying to tell us?
A revelation, when it appears, transforms
us. We see reality in new and different
ways. The author of the Book of
Revelation experienced the appearance of a multitude singing and praising
God. He did not see this; it appeared to
him. Through the revelation he was better
able to understand that Jesús, the slain Lamb, is still worthy to receive honor
and glory and blessing. He has Risen
from death – gone beyond it..
Death appeared to one of my
sisters and me a year ago tonight, at our mother’s bedside. We did not SEE death, but as death appeared
to us, as it was revealed to us, it was not tragic or threatening. There was a certain peace and assuredness that
all was well with her. We lost her, but
she was not lost. Death had no power
over her.
During the past year, of
course, we have missed her terribly and thought and dreamed of her often. But the revelation as a result of death’s
appearance to us, while not perfectly clear or simple to relate, has
increasingly convinced at least me that there is nothing to fear. Hope and trust replace fear and trembling.
This is why the apostles were
able to tell the Sanhedrin: “We have
been witnesses to a great revelation each time Jesús, whom you killed, has
appeared to us. He is more powerful than
death. We do not always recognize him at first, but each time he does
Jesús-like things, it is revealed that he still lives and appears among us each
time we break the bread and drink from the cup, and each time we obey his
command to love one another by putting each one’s need before our own. You can lock us up or tell us to stop giving
witness, but we have learned that we must obey God rather than men.”
No human institution, whether
political or religious, has the right to take away our conscientious decision
to obey the law of Love, as it is revealed to us. Pope Francis emphasizes this truth in his new
document, the Joy of Love. We will be
discussing the document in coming weeks.
If the resurrection of Jesús
does not compel us to give witness to his way of loving, then it is merely a
teaching and not a revelation. If the
resurrection does not reveal to us our call to love, to feed and to be willing
to suffer for the truth, as means to eternal life, our mourning will never be
turned into dancing.
Faith in the Resurrection not just of Jesús but
in my mother, in our loved ones, in all who have died and in our own divine
share of God’s life bears witness to abrupt, transformative newness that I
cannot explain. I can only share what has appeared and been revealed. The Risen Jesus appears where least expected,
and everything is changed. The death defying power of Christ Risen has the
capacity to work newness where newness seems impossible.
When we live the Resurrection by being the
Risen Christ, we can say to each other, as did the disciple Jesús loved, “It is
the Lord!” He has risen indeed.
Alleluia!
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