We are witnesses to all this

Third Sunday of Easter (C)

Last Wednesday night I attended the first session of a course for people who will be assisting in the Will Graham evangelisation event to be held at the MyState arena on Saturday, 21 May. The course is entitled, “Christian Life and Witness”. The Will Graham event is being sponsored by the Christian churches of Hobart, and the Catholic Church is participating.

A representative from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association presented the material at the session. The purpose of the course is to deepen people’s faith and relationship with Jesus Christ and equip them to effectively share their faith with others. Those doing the course will assist at the evangelistic event.

The course that I attended really parallels the purpose of the Evangelium program which commences on Tuesday, 17 May. This is an important initiative of the Archdiocese. It has been encouraging to see that we are close to having 100 people sign up for the Evangelium sessions either at the Cathedral Centre or in various hubs across Tasmania.

Witnessing to our faith is central to being a Christian. Following his Resurrection, the Lord said to his disciples: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) I have always felt that Tasmania can rightly claim to be ‘at the ends of the earth’!

The basic requirement to be a witness to the Lord is given to us in the Gospel reading today. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”. It appears that the Lord in the end only really needs this of us: that we truly love him. We can ask ourselves: Do we really love him? If we do, we will follow him faithfully, and we will want to witness to him.

In the first reading today we note that this is what the apostles began to do in Jerusalem and that this infuriated the high priest and leading Jewish religious leaders. They ordered Peter and John and the other apostles to cease their preaching.

We read of Peter’s bold reply, speaking on behalf of the apostles, “Obedience to God comes before obedience to men”. After outlining what he and the other apostles preached concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus, he added, “We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to all those who obey him”.

Peter would not back down from fulfilling what he knew Jesus had asked of him. It was the bold witness of the apostles and the early Christians that enabled the Church to grow not only in Jerusalem, but in Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth. The Church grows when ordinary Christians seek to be witnesses to their faith to those around them.

As our society abandons Christian faith and Christian morality the need for witness to the faith is increasingly necessary. Such an event like the Will Graham evangelisation rally and our own Evangelium program are examples of ways in which men and women of faith are prepared to fulfil their Christian responsibility.

It may seem daunting to become a witness to Christ among our family and friends, but it is possible. All we need is to allow our faith to grow stronger within us and we will want to share it with others.

Pope Francis, in his first Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of Gospel, reminded us that when our faith involves a real encounter with Jesus Christ we are changed. Entering more deeply into our personal relationship with Jesus fills us with joy. He said, “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew”.

While we may feel that many may be hostile to our efforts, it is also true that many in our society are lost and searching. Their lives are not complete and they know something is lacking. This is because of a fundamental truth which St Augustine identified after his own years of searching: “You have made us for yourself O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”.

This is a basic truth about human nature. We are made for union with God and without a living relationship with God life is empty and incomplete. Thus, we can have confidence that we have a message and a truth that every human person needs to hear.

Once again, I invite you to participate in the Evangelium sessions which will commence in three weeks’ time. You can register by visiting the website.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Sunday, 1 May 2022