The Resurrection of the Lord
The Easter AWE!
“The community of believers was of one heart and one mind…” I know without a doubt that all of us learned something about ourselves during this past year. We learned it about ourselves as individuals, as couples, as families, as a parish community, as a compassionate city, as a country and as world citizens, as explorers of the universe. Did we get closer to being of “one heart and one mind” as Jesus envisioned life after His resurrection?
Jesus was so present to his disciples. He showed them the way. To reinforce the witness he had given, the teaching he had done, the ways of being with them, he spent even more time with them. He had them experience the power that they had to heal, to show mercy, to care for all. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles does just that. They held all things in common and everyone had all they needed.
This “holding all things in common” is a real struggle for us. Holding al things in common might include doing our part to contribute to parish life—being present In the church pews is minimal—active participation includes service as liturgical ministers—as singers, greeters, communion ministers, lectors, altar servers. It means being the Body of Christ, living as the Body of Christ everywhere we go after our participation in the Sunday liturgy.
As we enter the time of recognizing signs of “new life”—the meaning of resurrection—we are being given opportunities to name the ways that we can be of “one heart and one mind” and to “hold all things in common.” During this time of Jesus’ reinforcement of his teachings, the boosters that he gave his disciples, we too are entering into a new journey, a new way of being community.
We don’t know exactly what that looks like or feels like. All we know is that we have been waiting, we have been learning, God has been working in our lives. It is time as we journey to Pentecost to open our minds and our hearts to how we want to be with each other in the future. We can’t go back to the past, the way it was. It is a different time. We are different. We have the opportunity to re-connect, to renew relationships, and to form new ones. What are we willing to do, who are we willing to be when we too have the opportunity to live and to be as the community described in ACTS?
This is our call to be witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus. Only then can we call ourselves disciples. Only then do we enter into the dance of discipleship: Accompany, Welcome and Encourage—the very real AWE of Resurrection!
May we all be filled with AWE!