Saturday within the Octave of Easter
Nitong mga nakaraang araw, ang mga pagbasa mula sa Ebanghelyo ay tumatalakay sa iba’t ibang pagpapakita o appearances ng Panginoong muling nabuhay sa kanyang mga alagad. Tulad ng nabanggit ko sa isang homily ko noong nakaraang Lunes, sa tuwing magpapakita ang Panginoong muling nabuhay, inuutusan niya ang sinumang pinagpakitaan niya na ipahayag ang mabuting balita ng kanyang Pagkabuhay. Each time the risen Lord appears to people he sends them on a mission to tell others and to spread the news.
At ito pa rin ‘yung tema ng ebanghelyo ngayon. Matapos magpakita sa Labing-isang Apostoles, sinabi ni Hesus: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Needless to say that this is also addressed to each of us.
Each of us, by virtue of our baptism and confirmation, receives this commission or mission: we too are sent to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, we too are sent to proclaim the good news of Christ’s Resurrection. Hindi nais ni Hesus na tayo ay maging mga tagapakinabang lang ng mga bunga ng kanyang dakilang gawain at misyon. Bagkus, nais niya na tayo ay maging mga aktibong kabahagi o active participants sa kanyang misyon. He left to us the mission of making this world a better place to live in. Kailangan nating mahigpit na panghawakan ang katotohanan na ang Panginoon ay naniniwala at nagtitiwala sa atin… Kaya nga isinusugo rin niya ang bawat isa sa atin… kaya nga tinuturing niya tayo na mission partners niya.
We Christians not only believe in God, we also believe that God believes in us… God continues to hope in us. This is a forgotten aspect of our faith. Our failure to remember this has contributed in no small part to the present crisis of faith. To keep faith in God without believing in God’s faith in us is to remain on the level of primitive religion. We must believe… because the Lord believes in us!
Human psychology tells us that we have this basic need: We want to feel that someone believes in us. There is something in us that cries out: “I need you to believe in me… I need you to have faith in me… I need you to need me.” Today’s gospel reading has a very timely and relevant message: The Lord Jesus has faith in us… he believes in us… that is why he is sending us to proclaim the good news… he is commissioning us to be his mission partners.
We are reminded once again that the call to follow Christ in mission extends not only to missionaries but also to ourselves. To be a disciple of Jesus is to share in the mission of Jesus: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel…” “Go into your family, into your circle of friends, into your neighborhood, into your parish, into your social network and be good news to all the people you live with, work with and meet with.” “Go and show goodness, kindness, and gentleness to them.” “Go and affirm them, appreciate them, encourage them.” “Go and be an instrument of understanding and harmony.” “Go and promote truth, justice, and peace.”
Indeed, we need to recognize God’s faith in us… we must be convinced that God believes in us… God considers us agents or partners in his saving work… precisely because he believes in us. And that is why he constantly invites each of us, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel…”
Parokya ni Osong 