Monday, October 18, 2021
Resurrection – Part IV: Witnessing
Are you not mislead because you do not know the power of God?
On All Saints we celebrate the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in their own act of witness. As we move closer to this celebration when we celebrate our own gift of sainthood, we recall words from the Letter to the Hebrews: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us. (Hebrews 12:1)
In reflecting on the idea of resurrection, we have come to understand that it is not a possession that we might earn but rather a presence already in our midst. Christ is among us, healing and calling, soothing and loving. But we must be watchers with open minds.
When we consider the gift of resurrection, we have come to believe that it is not a privilege bestowed on an elite few but rather a gift already given to all. Christ is within us, restoring and renewing, transforming and changing. But we must be receptive with open hearts.
Once we understand that Christ is already among us and that we will glimpse him in the loving acts of another, we also understand that we must witness to this wondrous gift of self freely given. When we slip into the thinking of the Pharisees who say that in order to love God we must memorize a code and adhere only to this code without considering what results from our elitism, we know that we must watch for the healing hand of God who includes all and excludes none. When we find ourselves thinking as these Sadducees who doubt that the Living God exists and that he loves us to the point of taking us in, forgiving and holding us forever in love, we must be on watch for the Spirit who speaks ardently to those who fear or doubt.
And once we have watched, once we have waited, once we have worked as a response to the Gospel call, then we must call one another to faith. A faith filled with outrageous hope in new possibilities.
We must be on watch like the sentinel on the high city tower. We must wait patiently as the virgins who anticipate the coming of the bridegroom. We must work in the kingdom fields of mercy and compassion and healing. And as we watch and wait and work we must witness as the risen Christ to one another as we call out to one another these truths we hold dearly and closely. We ask intercession from the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us to help us as we run the race of life. In this way we might hope to avoid the fate of the Sadducees we see today. The fate of living a life that is greatly misled.
Compare other versions of today’s citation and watch for the presence of the Spirit in your life today.
Adapted from a reflection written on November 22, 2008.
The Noontimes 
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