Year C – EASTER – The Resurrection of the Lord

The words with which John begins his first letter are moving: “What we have heard and have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at, and touched with our hands, I mean the Word who is Life…we are telling you of it” (1 Jn 1:1-3). His is an enviable experience, but unrepeatable. However, to become “witnesses” of Christ, it is not necessary to have walked with Jesus of Nazareth on the roads of Palestine.

Paul—who did not know Jesus before his death and resurrection—is constituted a witness of the things he saw (Acts 26:16) and receives this task directly from the Lord: “As you have born witness to me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome” (Acts 23:11). To be a witness, it’s enough to have seen the Lord really alive, beyond death.

Witnessing is not to give a good example. That is certainly useful, but the testimony is something else. This can only be given by one who passed from death to life; one who can confirm that his existence is changed and acquired meaning when it was illuminated by the light of Easter; one who has the experience that faith in Christ gives meaning to the joys and sorrows and illuminates life’s joyful and sad moments.

Let’s ask ourselves: is Christ’s resurrection a constant point of reference in all the projects we undertake: when we buy, sell, dialogue, divide an inheritance, and choose to have another child? … Or do we believe that the practical realities of this world have nothing to do with Easter?

Anyone who has seen the risen Lord is changed forever and lives only for him.

To internalize the message, we repeat:
“If our heart opens itself to the understanding of the Scriptures, we will see the Lord.”