Sr. Antonella Prestia DW
General Councilor
The Gospel Comes Alive Today
How does the Gospel come alive today? Revisiting our lives, how many people have allowed us to meet the Lord! How many times have we experienced His Presence! Perhaps, as with the disciples after Jesus’ Resurrection, our eyes did not recognize Him right away, we needed a gesture, a word, a sign…
Then, with a heart full of joy, we exclaimed: it is the Lord! (Jn 21:7)
In this Easter season, we remember all the times when we have been witnesses of the Risen One through small, simple, daily gestures, thus revealing the love of Wisdom for each human being, manifesting His desire to meet each one of us and to weave bonds of friendship. Conscious or not, we have been His face, His voice, His heart… for the people we have met, in community and in mission. It was not grand
gestures that allowed the disciples to recognize Jesus but a bread broken, an invitation, the fish cooked on an open fire…simple gestures which are like a spark that reveals the presence of God. So too, the Gospel comes alive in our own day, whenever we accept the compelling witness of people whose lives have been changed by their encounter with Jesus. For two millennia, a chain of such encounters has communicated the
attractiveness of the Christian adventure.1
The personal encounter with Christ is a transforming, life-changing experience. Allowing ourselves to be touched by His love, refocusing our lives on Him, leave space for God to be God in us and for us to be au-thentic Christians. This personal relationship can only be contagious, it can only broaden horizons, lead to the weaving of bonds, but it requires a self-emptying to go towards the other. The “other” is God and the
«others» are our sisters and brothers.
We are witnesses of the Risen Lord because we have experienced his love, He who even from the grave brings forth life. The tomb is the place from which he who enters does not come out. But Jesus came out for us, he rose for us, to bring life where there was death, to begin a new story where a stone had been put.2
In our historical context, the Gospel has come alive so many times by our witness and commitment and those of others. Together, let us continue, with all the people who have committed themselves in favor of life by pouring the fragrance of compassion, tenderness, goodness, peace, beauty, friendship… Let us continue to incarnate-reveal Wisdom in today’s world so that others may meet Him.
In this issue of the International Bulletin we will be able to “contemplate” how, the testimonies of life trace furrows of light, signs of new life for the world. Enjoy reading our sacred family history.
Happy Easter to all of you,
1 Pope Francis, Message for the 2021 World Communication Day
2 Pope Francis, Homily of the Easter Vigil 2020
