In
my work as a priest, people often tell me about spiritual experiences
that they have had: sometimes they are experiences of the Lord in
some way, sometimes of someone who has died, asking for prayers or
something like that. Quite a large number of people do in fact
have spiritual experiences. However, often after a time people
begin to wonder did they really have these experiences, or was it all
in their imagination. It is really impossible to know but in
fact it is even not important. Usually the experience will have
helped the person at the time and the rest is irrelevant.
In
the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles—or the
‘adventures’ of the Apostles, as you might call them—Luke tells
us how after Jesus rose from the dead he continued to appear
to the Apostles. Not just once, but many times. Why?
Probably to convince them that they had not imagined it. One
thing that he did on at least two occasions was to eat something with
them. The first time when he appeared to them in the room, they
were all standing there speechless, and he said ‘Do you have
anything here to eat?’ So they gave him a piece of fish and
he ate it in front of them. Then they knew it was not just a
vision, but a real person, the same real person they had known
before. It was not even food that he had brought with him,
which could also have been part of a vision, but it was something
they gave him and then they watched him chew it and swallow it.
This was a beautiful and very human thing to do; something that we
could completely relate to.
Luke
also says that he not only appeared to them, but he also continued to
tell them about ‘the Kingdom.’ What is ‘the Kingdom?’
What was he telling them about? I have no doubt that he was
telling them about the reality of heaven: life with God which He has
created us for; that it is real and that we could also lose it if we
are foolish. There we will be reunited with the people we love and we
will experience happiness there in a way that we cannot even begin to
imagine now. He was probably also explaining to them what the
purpose of his life was on earth, why he had to suffer and die the
way he did, what all this meant for the human race; God’s plan for
his people. Also he probably told them that he had a lot of
work for them to do and that they must remember that their life here
on earth was a time of service and not to worry if things were not
easy, because when their work here was done he would bring them home
to be with him again.
Why
was it they were suddenly able to go out and start preaching to
everyone about a man that most people had never heard of before?
And not only preach about him for a while, but for the rest of their
lives with passion. Almost all of them ended up being martyred,
but they didn’t care, because they knew that the only thing that
was important was to be faithful to the Lord Jesus as best they
could.
Why
am I telling you all this? Because the same thing exactly applies to
us. The Apostles were real people and these are real experiences that
we are reading about. Our life on earth is just as short as theirs
was and it is also a time of service, just as theirs was. For most of
you it will be serving by looking after your families. For single
people and also for priests and religious it will be in a slightly
different way. But that is why we are here, to learn to love, to
serve, to freely choose for or against God. I think it is also worth
remembering that we are living in a time when people are very cynical
about religion, and they point to scandals within the Church as being
‘proof’ of just how hypocritical the whole thing is. We must not
let that put us off. It has always been difficult to believe and
probably always will be, but we must ask the Lord himself to help us
to persevere and not become negative or cynical. And when our time
here is complete God will come and bring us home. I have no doubt
that this is probably what Jesus was telling the Apostles about
during those forty days. He wanted them to have no doubt about why
they were here, so that we also could have a good understanding of
our purpose here, through their teaching.
You
might say, ‘But it is too difficult, or not realistic, or too hard
to believe.’ God has given us every possible help that we
could ask for. If it seems too difficult it is only because we
are not using the help that He has given us. What help? Above
all, the Eucharist, where Jesus feeds us with his own Body and Blood
and where we are united with him in the most intimate way possible;
also through the word of God; confession, etc. It is all there
waiting for us. The clearer a picture we have in our own head
as to what our life is about, the easier it is to keep going.
That is also why we needn’t be afraid of anything in this world.
If we offer ourselves to God, then why should we be afraid? All
things are in his hands.
I am going now to prepare a place for you
and after I have gone and prepared you a place,
I shall return to take you to myself (Jn 14:3).
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