Pontius Pilate in St. John’s Gospel (Jn. 18:38) responded to a statement by Jesus about truth with a rhetorical question: “Truth! What does that mean?” He probably believed that truth is what one makes it, not the truth that is grounded in the very character and being of God which we, who are baptized, try to witness in our daily lives.
In this Third Sunday of Easter, both Jesus in St. Luke’s Gospel and St. Peter in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles call us to be witnesses to truth in regards to Jesus’ ministry, passion, death and resurrection. To do that, we need to understand what that truth means to us and how to share that with others, both believers and non-believers.
Depending on which Bible one is using, the word truth is listed as many as 235 times according to mathematicians who count such things. The number of times, however, is not as important as to the context in which the word truth is used as it references God’s truth. The latter requires faith and that is what we are called to witness on a personal level.
For me, it starts with prayer. If I am going to share truth about God through how I practice my faith, I need to understand God’s message. Reading of the Hebrew Scripture (Old Testament) or from the New Testament provides me with multiple answers to questions about truth, but it is prayer that opens my mind and my heart as to how that truth touches me in my faith journey.
Being touched by God through prayer and understanding helps me share openly about how God’s message makes life real, not only when things are good, but in times when we are faced with overwhelming darkness. The latter is particularly true when I cannot find a path to overcome in myself or through others. Only God has answers to my needs. And, additionally, He proves it to me through His teachings of love, His suffering and death on a cross for the forgiveness of my sins and His resurrection to open the gates of salvation to join Him in glory for everlasting life.
Recent examples of this in my life as a deacon have come through the devastation and sadness suffered by so many who have lost loved ones due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Though the Catholic Church offers several services to help comfort people at this time, institutions are handling these deaths with speed because they are out of room to store the bodies at either the hospitals or mortuaries. Relatives and friends are unable to get closure of any kind due to the swift progression of safety protocols.
This is especially true when the time of separation between illness and death has been several months. Mortuaries pick up the deceased from the hospitals and deliver them directly to the cemetery for immediate burial, bypassing vigil, Mass and committal services.
Because of this, I combined some aspects of both the vigil and committal rites so that relatives and friends can gather together sometime after the burial to express their thoughts about what the deceased person meant to them. They have come to realize how their lives have been changed because of their relationship and that there is so little time on earth to be with one another. Their sharing is more about God’s presence through times of joy and peace, as well as when there are hardships. It opens them to the hope of an eternal life that truly is of benefit to practicing a faith or at least to being in touch with God more often.
For me, it has given me an insight into how we are so connected no matter what are background, ethnicity, faith or anything else. We are all created by God out of His love to be one with Him in thought, word and deed, as well as in faith, hope and love. Our relationship with God is not just something we talk about, but which we practice as best we can as humans with a sin nature. We also are more cognizant of our interface with all of God’s creation in that we are called to love others as Jesus loves us.
The witness of truth to which Jesus and Peter call us to is about that personal sharing of how God has touched us spiritually through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit by the practice of our faith. It is our real-life experiences that speak so loudly of what being faith filled has done for us in good and bad times.
Let us take this Easter Season to look how we have been changed through the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ who in obedience to His Father’s will gave His all so we could be whole. Let us then, in turn, give our all to those with whom we come in contact, whether we know them or not. In all reality, we are part of the same family of God. We just need to be reminded that God is still here for us and will never let go. Let us be that witness who never lets go in sharing God’s truth through our lived faith.
Reading 1: Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19
Reading 2: First John 2: 1-5a
Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48
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