The Qualities
of a Community whose Christ is risen.
First reading: Acts 4:32-35
Second reading: 1Jn 5:1-6
Gospel: Jn 20:19-31
Dear friends, the church invites us to learn
the qualities of a community whose Christ has risen from the dead. She also challenges
us to be transformed into a community that forgives, loves and cares for its
members.
Before the death and resurrection of Christ, the
disciples of Jesus lived like every other person, with their daily selfish passions
and struggles for who will be the greatest among them and who will sit at the
right and left hand of Jesus in His glory. But the resurrection of Christ made
a positive impact on this community of disciples. It transformed them into a
community that became a model of a good community, a community that was admired
by other people. From the first reading of today, we learnt that the community
of disciples began to live a communal life, a life characterized by peace,
love, mutual help, and unselfishness. The reading said: “Now the whole
group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed
private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in
common… There was not a
needy person among them, for those who owned lands or houses sold them and
brought the proceeds of what was sold.
They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was
distributed to each as any had need.” We can say that they allowed themselves to be
transformed by the power of the resurrection of Christ and by the gift of peace
given them in the gospel of today.
Dear brothers and sister, our Christ has
resurrected, and He has also blessed us with the gift of peace. However, taking
a sincere look at our own Christian community of today, one would notice that
it falls short of the qualities that the early Christian community possessed. What,
then, is our problem? Why is our community still reflecting hatred, injustice,
lack of help for the needy, and other unchristian behaviors? Why are our
families, our relationships, and our individual lives yet to reflect the light
of the resurrection of Christ? Why are we still lacking peace, love and
forgiveness in our relationships with others even when our Christ has
resurrected? Why do we still live as if our Christ has not risen from the dead?
Today, the church celebrates the Divine Mercy.
As we recall the Mercy of our God, the church gives us one of the reasons why
our communities, our families and our individual lives are not yet manifesting
some qualities of a community whose Christ is risen. She tells us that the
reason is because we are yet to emulate God’s pattern of mercy and justice. Without
forgiveness and mercy, there will not be lasting peace and love. A community
without peace and love cannot really be called Christian.
Our God is a merciful God, a God who loved us
even while we were still sinners, a God who forgave us without conditions. He
is a God who corrects with love and without condemning the offender. From every
indication, many people are still finding it difficult to adopt God’s pattern
of mercy and treating of offenders. They are rather comfortable with a pattern
founded on revenge for wrongs committed against them, the type of treatment
written in Genesis 4: 23-24 (I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven
times, then
Lamech seventy-seven times).
To experience the presence of peace of Christ in our
communities, families and other relationships, we must love as our God loves,
and forgive as our God forgives. The pattern of God’s mercy was shown by Christ
in his teachings, especially in two of his parables. The first was in the
parable of the prodigal son. In this parable, God was shown as a Father who went
out to meet the son who offended him, to embrace him, to forgive him and to restore
him to his lost glory. This challenges us to go out and encounter those who
have offended us, to forgive them and take them back. Don’t sit in your comfort
and wait for those who offended you to come and ask for forgiveness, and don’t
let their offences fracture your relationship with them. Go out in search of
them today. The second was in the parable of the unforgiving servant. This
parable teaches us that God wants us to forgive offenders without giving
conditions to them. Often, we demand conditions before forgiving offenders;
this is not the pattern of God’s mercy towards us. God’s pattern is that He
forgives without giving us conditions.
Dear friends, Peace cannot bear fruits where there is no
forgiveness. Our community cannot be lovey and peaceful if we don’t forgive
each other. The second reading tells us that we have conquered the world by our
faith. Let us, therefore, witness to this victory through the way we love,
help, and forgive one another; this is our faith. Let us teach the world how to
love and how to forgive, beginning from our families and Christian communities.
Let us make our Christian communities, families and relationships abodes of
love, mercy, and mutual help. Let us make our Christian communities to testify to
the power of the risen Christ. When our families, communities and relationships
reflect peace, love, and mutual help, our lives will be able to attract the
presence of Christ, just as the early Christians attracted the presence of the
risen Christ in the gospel of today.
Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima
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