GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 22ND April 2017
EASTER SATURDAY
FIRST READING: Acts 4:13-21
PSALM: Psalm 118: 1, 14-21
GOSPEL: Mark 16:9-15
THEME: GO AND PREACH THE GOSPEL!
For some Christians, the celebration of Easter ends with a picnic and not with a mission. Once the picnic comes to an end, Easter goes into a coma and they return to their old way of life. The reality, however, from a biblical perspective looks different. For the early Christian community, the experience of the risen Christ and the subsequent infilling of the Holy Spirit led to a massive evangelization drive that culminated in testimonies of conversions to the Christian faith.
In today’s First Reading, Peter and John are described as “uneducated laymen” (cf. Acts 4:13). The deliberate qualification of these two as “uneducated” by the author of Acts is to highlight the fact that the power at work in them was supernatural. The leaders, elders and scribes of the Jewish community were virtually mystified by their boldness in the proclamation of the Gospel. What changed these ordinary men into extraordinary persons was their experience of the risen Christ. That experience filled them with so much power that they declared, “It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
In the Gospel text, the risen Christ addressed his disciples as follows: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Mk. 16:15). The early Christians did not have all the modern means of transportation and communication that we have at our disposal and yet they availed themselves generously in preaching for the Gospel, and left a positive mark on their generation.
The biggest hindrance to the proclamation of the Gospel today is that there are many educated Christians who have heard and read widely about the resurrected Christ, and yet handle the mysteries of faith without any faith. Consequently, they are unwilling to move an inch to preach the Gospel.
During this octave of Easter, as Jesus Christ reveals himself to us individually and collectively, he sends us forth to go and preach the Gospel to all creation. If we truly love Jesus, we would take his word seriously and set out to witness to the power of tbe resurrection.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, fill me with power and make me a witness of your resurrection. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen)