We Are Witnesses of These Things

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This Sunday we again meet the risen Christ, and this time we get to spend little time with him and his community. We see how his disciples react with surprise when he suddenly appears among them, and we hear his reassuring “Peace be with you.” He acts like himself, too, in what I imagine is a characteristic request from the guy who spent so much time dining with people: “Have you anything here to eat?” This is not just a familiar gesture, and it also proves to them that he’s not a ghost. Then he puts everything in a context for them. He has to do this over and over, it seems, in these days of resurrection, but that’s reasonable. His followers have lived through a series of traumatic events and a rollercoaster of emotions. If they’re a little slow on the take regarding the Paschal Mystery, which is aptly named a mystery, then I understand. I imagine that there was a lot more back-and-forth than what is written here, more conversation and sharing. At least, I hope there was. I hope this community had a chance to be with each other in the old familiar ways that they had been together before. Everything changed, and yet, Christ is still Christ and they’re still his beloved community. They’re working out what that means together. And he tells them they’re witnesses. It’s not just about the community that they share together; it’s bigger than that. They are witnesses for the whole world.

Bearing witness is a natural response to an encounter with the risen Christ. The disciples served as witnesses to each other first, together in community, reminding each one what had happened, telling the stories, breaking the bread, and continuing to live the mission to which Jesus called them in the first place. They moved the mission forward, and the circle of community expanded as more people joined the movement. The new people continued to encounter the risen Christ. He may have stopped appearing by the seashore, and they weren’t all in locked rooms anymore, but people met the risen Christ in the disciples.

And here we are. This is not just a story about other people in the distant past. It’s our legacy, and it’s our reality. We too were once new disciples. I don’t necessarily mean when we were baptized as infants, but that was a start for a lot of us. Somewhere along the way, we must have had some kind of encounters with the risen Christ. Maybe they were subtle and hard to pinpoint or momentous, I-see-the-light conversion moments. Maybe your experiences have been a little of both. Or, maybe you haven’t but you want to have that encounter. All of these are signs of the risen Christ working in our lives. How could we keep seeking a deeper relationship with God if we didn’t already have some kind of experience of the One Whom We Seek?

And how are we seeking Christ now? I don’t know about you, but I feel like part of me is still hiding out in a locked room waiting for Christ to come in. My locked room is more metaphorical than physical at this point in the pandemic, but it still feels real. I have more freedom of movement now – I can be back at work, see some of my family again, and gather with people outside. Part of me is excited about things opening up, but I’m also apprehensive. I’ve heard this expressed by other introverts too. After the quiet, protective bubble of this year, how do we reckon with a noisy, busy world again? I don’t want to return to the frenetic pace I was living before the shutdown. I need the risen Christ to enter softly in and breathe a breath of peace on me. I need Christ to show me how to ease gently out of confinement into new life. As we all ease out of our enclosure, I also need Christ to show me how to be with my communities in the old familiar ways that we once were with each other. I look for Christ in my wisdom people who so often guide me and in my own prayer and contemplative practices that help to ground me.

 And I hope Christ will show me how to be a witness for other people too. Our call as disciples is not only to seek the risen Christ ourselves but to bear witness to others. There are a lot of suffering people these days. Some are navigating illness and loss, some are struggling with depression and loneliness, disconnection and grief. How can we help to alleviate this suffering?

You and I are witnesses of Christ, the one whom we also seek. We continue the work of Christ’s first community because we are part of it. In our love for God and each other, in our care of people in need, we see how Christ is in our midst now. How can we best be present to each other in this moment?

 

 For Reflection

  • How do you need the risen Christ to be present to you now, and how do you encounter Christ in your day-to-day living?

  • How do you bear witness to Christ in your life?

  • If you were to die and rise from the dead and go visit your loved ones, what would be your signature move to show them that it’s really you, that you’re with them and not a ghost?

  • And think about the communities that you’re part of – family, parish, religious, friends – what is your togetherness like? When you are living a kind of dying and rising series of events, who do you come together in love and support? Is there more you can be or do to witness to the presence of God among you?

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, dancing, meaningful conversations, and Holy Week.