He is still One with Us

 Reflection on Today’s Readings, Friday of Easter Octave, April 22nd, 2022
Texts:  Acts 4:1-12; Ps 118:1-2.4.22-27ab; John 21: 1-14
Jesus Christ proved to His disciples in today’s gospel reading that He was still one with them as the risen One, He was with them as He had always been. He did this by showing them the sign He had done before: He made them catch so many fish after futile effort.  He also ate with them to show that He was still one with them as before. This means those who walked with Him in the flesh had no better advantage than those of us who relate with the risen Christ. As He opened the eyes of the blind while walking the face of the earth,  so also He can open the eyes of the blind now; as He fed multitude while walking the face of the earth, so also He can still do in our time. Being one with us as the risen One,  He still shares our conditions with us, He understands our plights, sorrows, pains and sufferings and He shares them with us. He shares both good times and bad times with us. The fact that His disciples did not recognise Him means that He is always with us, even when we do not see Him.  
Today’s first reading tells us about people’s responses to the message of resurrection. Some people who heard the message believed. In the reading, it is said, “But many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand.” The message also infuriated the leaders of the people. The reading says, “the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” The message of resurrection is still the same till today, gaining compliance and rejection. Whether the message is accepted or rejected, we should know that He is always with us, sharing from our joy and suffering.
We also learn in today’s gospel reading that the encounter with the risen Christ transforms our lives and changes our stories. In the reading when the disciples encountered with the risen Christ, their futile effort became productive. This tells us that it is in the Christ that our efforts make meaning and yields bountifully. Hence,  let us hold firm in Him.

Almighty ever-living God, who gave us the paschal mystery in the covenant you established for reconciling the human race; so dispose our minds, we pray, that what we celebrate by professing the faith we may express in deeds.  

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke