OUR EYES NEED TO BE OPENED - Daily Reflections April 20,2014

OUR EYES NEED TO BE OPENED

 

We speak of the resurrection of Jesus as a most important event. It is the vindication of Jesus in the face of all His detractors. The heavenly Father, opting to be silent in the duration of the passion, now rewards Jesus with new life, power, glory and exultation. Later, Paul writes that the resurrection of Jesus also becomes the most important seal for the preaching of the Christian faith. He says, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is our faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God” (1 Corinthians 15:14-15).

       Belief in the Risen Jesus, however, was not easy and automatic for the first disciples. Obviously traumatized with the passion of Jesus, where they saw Him going through every blow and torture, the disciples were skeptical and suspicious of every report they received about Jesus being seen alive. Two disciples decided to take a break from everything by distancing themselves — away from Jerusalem, away from the circle of disciples, away from the issue of Jesus. They could have been so depressed and so caved in with their emotions that they failed to recognize with their eyes the presence of Jesus, who walked with them for a long time on the road to Emmaus. It was not enough that Jesus had come. He had to instill faith anew in them, explaining to them the mysterious plan of God written in the Law and the prophets about the suffering Messiah, and letting their hearts burn again in hope.

       In our time, this touch of faith, which can only be a gift of the Risen Jesus, is what many need. True, there are many among us who are “disciples” and “apostles” of Jesus. Many bear the name Christian, and some even claim to be “born-again Christians.” But many — in an instant of trials and difficulties, in an encounter of frustration, or in an exposure to the seemingly dominant forces and manifestations of evil — easily give up their enthusiasm, their passion and conviction for Jesus. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What are the personal fruits of your own belief in Jesus as risen from the dead? Is there someone you know who needs a boost in his or her faith in Jesus as Lord? What can you do for this person?

 

Dearest Lord, open my eyes to Your presence in my life. May I shine Your presence, too, in the lives of the people around me.