Third Sunday of Easter
Also Read: Mass Readings for 04 May 2025 Sunday Reflection by Maryanne – 04 May 2025
“We are witnesses of these things”
This is where every attempt at evangelization must begin. This is the only credibility that the incredible claims of Christianity can boast. Yes, one can show how Christianity “makes sense” or that sociological data shows faith makes one happy, but these do not hold the same convincing power that one’s witness does. When someone that you trust can say with confidence, “I tried it and it works!” you begin to reconsider. This is what made the apostles so powerful to those who were seeking Christ and what made them so dangerous to those who were trying to suppress Christ.
“Forever will I give you thanks”
This line from today’s Psalm is one of the best foundations to giving witness. Giving thanks, even in times of hardship, will catch other people’s attention because it is so difficult. It is relatively easy to just endure hardship, but to give thanks. This is when your life appears inspired by something greater than yourself. This Psalm, fittingly, also has strong resurrection language that would have resonated with the early Church during their own time of persecution. Ultimately, it is when one remembers the Resurrection of Jesus, and the hope of our own resurrection, that one can continue to give thanks even in the hardships of life.
“Revealed”
The Gospel passage uses this word three times in short succession when describing Jesus speaking with his Apostles. Revelation is an important concept in Christian theology because it shows the necessity of God and faith when participating in the formation of theology. Christian theology is not primarily a ground-up project with us doing the foundational work. It is top-down. God reveals certain essential truths and it is up to humanity to cooperate with them to understand those truths more deeply and more fully. This chronologically begins with the revelation by God in the Old Testament, but principally begins with the fullness of revelation in the Incarnation of Jesus. The Church has been cooperating with God to unfold this revelation for the past two-thousand years.
