We are coming to the end of this year’s Easter season. We have celebrated and remembered the resurrection of Christ over the last 2 months. I hope celebrating this year’s Easter season and listening to the Word of God has given each of us a deeper experience of the resurrection. The readings over this season have shown us how and when the risen Christ appeared to the first disciples in the most common aspects of their lives and how that experience changed their lives. The Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels show us individuals and a community transformed by the experience of Christ in their lives.
Often, we have a preconceived idea of what the resurrection and our eternal life are. Usually, those notions are vague, distant, and far in the future. Many times, we also think of angles, a “time” or “place” after death, trumpets, and clouds. We also tend to concentrate on the rules to get past the entrance gate to heaven, to eternal life. Today we heard in the Gospel part of Jesus’ farewell address and prayer during the Last Supper. He presents us with a very different vision of eternal life and resurrection. Recognizing God as Father and living in communion with him and with each other is at the center of our eternal life – starting here and now.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
As Christian, our communion with God and with each other is what produces our eternal life. That is our joy – being part of Jesus’ life with the Father and Holy Spirit. Coming to the end of the joyful Easter season this year, the Word of God challenges us:
How is your communion with God and others?
Are you cherishing and protecting that communion in the center of your life?
Image: https://thehumanjesus.org/2016/03/31/john-175-a-verse-to-be-trapped-by/