Last weekend was amazing. The world’s attention was focused
on the canonizations of Pope St. John XXIII and Pope St. John Paul II. Hundreds
of thousands attended the celebration. Millions more watched it on television.
Its true significance was not the canonizations themselves. Its significance is
that they pointed to the central event in the history of mankind. They pointed
to the Christ event, the coming of the Eternal Word of God as one of us, as
man; His proclamation of the new spiritual Kingdom of God; His destruction of
evil and death through the sacrificial love of the cross; His giving His Life
to us at the Resurrection and at our personal acceptance of this Life, our
Baptism; and the continuation of His power and presence through the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. The Christ event is the central event of mankind. All
meaningful history before it pointed to this event. All history after it takes
its meaning from this event. Jesus Christ is the center of history. He is our
center. We are part of His Life,
and He is our life[1].
I myself have always felt a deep devotion to St. John
XXIII. This happy pope was totally
committed to the Lord. He began
each day with a personal motto: Now I begin. Pope St. John XXIII calls me to start new each day anew for
the Lord.
The importance of the canonizations of Pope St. John
XXIII, and Pope St. John Paul II was that it pointed towards Jesus Christ. We
humans were transformed by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We
were given spiritual lives. Now we are called to be part of the great event. We
are called to be witnesses to the world that Jesus Christ lives among us and
within us. We need to call the world to accept Christ and find God.
Those disciples on the road to Emmaus in today’s
Gospel reading did not understand the significance of Jesus Christ as they
walked down that road. They were upset over what had happened in Jerusalem that
weekend. They had been followers of Jesus of Nazareth, and had thought that he
would be the one who would redeem Israel. To them, that meant freeing Israel
from the Romans. But, Jesus was
killed the Friday before. Then there was a strange report that He had risen
from the dead. They had to take a step out of the everyday affairs of human
history and a step into the infinite. Jesus walked with them on that road. They
did not recognize him because they were looking at him with physical eyes. He
would establish a spiritual relationship with them. Then they would know who He
was. He explained the Word of God, Scripture to them. The One that Israel
longed for was the One the entire world longed for. Scripture said that death
could not have a hold on Him. Furthermore, those who followed him would also
share in His Eternal Life. They invited Him into their home and He broke bread
and gave it to them. Then they realized that their hearts were burning as He
explained scripture. And they recognized Him in the breaking of bread, the
Eucharist. He had led them into the spiritual.
Radical holiness means giving our entire lives to the
Lord. Radical holiness means being apostles in a world longing for
meaning. Radical holiness means
being so full of the Love of Christ that His love overflows from us to those
who are searching for Him. We are called to be apostles. The world has been
transformed. We are part of that transformation. We are part of the Christ event. Last weekend was amazing. The entire world was
captivated. The true significance of the canonizations was that they focused
our attention on the greatest event of mankind. And this event, the Christ event, is forever. For
Jesus Christ has made a promise to us.
He will be true to His promise.
His promise is this: He will be with us always. And we are witnesses to Jesus Christ ■
[1] Third Sunday of Easter, May 4,
2014. Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-33; Responsorial Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11;
1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35.
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