Monthly Reflections
CHRIST CONQUERED EVIL AND SO CAN WE!
s the church celebrates the feast of Easter, Christians have one big reason to rejoice. Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, died and was buried, but he is alive, the only human being who died and rose from the dead! Lazarus was already dead when Jesus restored his mortal life, but he still had to undergo physical death again. Christ, who is both divine and human, is alive with a wholly new immortal life, and death has no more power over him. He has conquered sin. He has conquered evil. He has conquered the world. Through baptism, Christians have also died to sin and are alive with him in the Spirit.
Paul says that we have come to the conviction that one died for all, therefore all have died (2 Cor. 5:14). Christians have died to sin with Christ and are now under the guidance of the Spirit, promised to us by Jesus before his Ascension to heaven. “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me” (Jn 15:26).
During his life on earth, Jesus performed many deeds which revealed his Father’s mercy, forgiveness, love, kindness, and care for humanity. Some welcomed his message, and believed in him and accepted his invitation; others did not. After Jesus’ resurrection, he continued to witness to his Father’s love through the power he gave to his followers.
The Easter readings, especially from the Acts of the Apostles, reveal how united the early Christians were. They shared everything, since they held everything in common and no one lacked anything (Acts 4:32 ff). The community did not arrive at this state without effort. They lived a life of union with Christ in the Spirit, what we would call the Christian life. They prayed, broke bread together (i.e. Eucharistic celebration), shared community life together, supported one another, served one another (1Cor. 13). This is the type of life we are invited to live in our families, Christian communities and even at work because of Christ’s free gift to us.
Reflection: Do I appreciate my Christian vocation? How do I show my appreciation in my daily living? Am I aware that my call is, above all, to witness to the love of God?
Death with Christ implies avoidance of sin in every way: by my attitude, my way of behaviour, my conduct in my relationship with others, my plans etc. However, being human, we know we are weak, and we fail. We do not reach the standard we aim for. But Christ knows and that is why he left us with the sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so that we can go to him and ask for forgiveness and start again a new page, with more enthusiasm and the dynamism of the Spirit.
In the First Letter of Peter (2:2-5) we are invited to “go to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let [ourselves] be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:4-5). The text goes on to describe who Christians are: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
Christians together are the church. The church is not a building, or an institute, but “the people, chosen as his own”. The church is a royal dwelling place, a holy nation. The church has grown from “not being my people” into “being my people”, from “not having received mercy” to “having received mercy”. As a holy nation we tell the story of the holy God and his saving deeds: the wonders he continuously performs among us, miracles, healings, forgiveness given to other people, to ourselves, etc.
Our being elected to the priesthood is just as important. It is a way of being, living, called to a holy status before a holy God. It is an invitation to holy things, like acting holy and speaking about the Holy God, the created holy things of God, and good plans for the development of life. It is a way of witness to God’s love in creation in the performance of our daily duties, in the plans we make daily, in our encounters, so that each time, every moment, evil is avoided and good is brought to the fore.
Reflection: Where am I as a Christian? Do I seriously consider my being a Christian as a way, a special status of being holy, as I am in Christ who the giver of life? Do I value my being chosen, as a member of a royal priesthood, a holy nation, so that I am one with the others who confess the same faith and hope, and live in the same charity? Am I proud of being a Christian in the real sense of the word? How do I manifest that?
Anna Sarah Minja, RA
Sr. Anna Sarah Minja is a Religious of the Assumption. She teaches courses on “Spirituality of Prayer” and “Women in the Bible” for the Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation at Tangaza College.
