REFLECTION: We must live like Jesus to transform the world into the reign of God

by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

Last Sunday, of course, on Easter, we reflected with great joy on what had happened to Jesus. The same disciples who had seen him tortured, executed and put to death saw him alive, risen from the dead. They rejoiced, and we rejoiced last week with them as we remembered and ourselves came to re-strengthen our own faith that Jesus is alive, he’s risen from the dead. That was more than enough to reflect on and to think about all this week.

But now we listen carefully to our lessons this morning. We go a step beyond that. We are called to the Gospel especially, to understand what happens to us or what should happen to us if we really believe that Jesus is alive and that he’s called us to be his disciples. When he came to those disciples that Easter Sunday night, they were all living in fear. They were afraid that what happened to Jesus might happen to them. What’s the first thing he does as he comes into their midst? He doesn’t rebuke them because they all ran away.

That’s probably what they were afraid of, of course. But no, he says to them, “Peace be with you,” and he reaches out in forgiveness to them. Then he goes on to tell them (and this is the message for us), he tells them, “As God has sent me, I now send you. You know that I am alive. You know that all that happened to me was under the guidance of God, that I went through death to new life. Now you, too, are to share in that life.”…

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