3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B
Jesus in today’s gospel reading from the gospel of Saint Luke 24:35-48 reminds His disciples that they are witnesses of these things that have happened to Him in the Scriptures especially his suffering, death and resurrection and urges them to go and share it with the world for the repentance and forgiveness of sins. Hence, Jesus sends them out to go and be His witnesses by professing and proclaiming Him to the world. What does it mean to be a witness of Christ? Being a witness of Christ means having knowledge of Him, professing Him and proclaiming Him to the world. Are we true witnesses of Christ in the world today? Are we really witnessing to Him? If we are, how are we witnessing to Him in our world today?
Today’s readings tell us how to witness Christ in our world today. In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles 3:13-15, 17-19, Saint Peter while proclaiming the wonders of the Lord, informs us that repentance from our sins is a great way to witness to Christ. Repentance is a feeling of regret or contrition by turning from sin and dedicating oneself to the amendment of one's life. Hence, in order to repent of our sins, we have to examine our conscience to find out how we have offended God and what we have done wrong to offend Him. After we have found out our sins, we have to acknowledge and accept our failings then go to confession, confess our sins, receive absolution from the priest and forgiveness from God.
Saint John in today’s second reading from the First Letter of Saint John 2:1-5a while stating that whoever keeps God’s word, the love of God is truly perfected in him emphasizes that we can be witnesses of Christ by keeping God’s commandments. Saint John reminds us to always love God and show as well as share our love for Him in the way we love our neighbors.
So my dear brothers and sisters, it is time to deepen our relationship with the risen Christ by repenting from our sins and by keeping His commandments so as to be true witnesses of His in our world today. Amen!
