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THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION

Apr 13, 2016, 10:40 AM | Article By: FR. EDU GOMEZ - Parish of the Resurrection, Brikama

Christ is risen and He is alive.For all those who believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, there is power that flows from it.This power however is made manifest to those who assiduously explore the Paschal Mystery in question, prayerfully meditating on it’s content as is contained in the Scripture and seeking day and night to translate the event into a reality in the context of their daily lives.May our prayerful reflection on the following sections of God’s word help us to experience in our lives, the power of resurrection.

The Resurrection means that there is something more than this mortal life, a life over and beyond the corruptible life.The apostles have seen this from in Jesus Christ, so they believe and are convinced of it.When he laid down this mortal life, He was given another life, which was glorious and they encountered Him in His glorious body.They therefore set out to preach high values.They were generous with what they had, they did and had things in common and had nothing to do with selfishness, avarice, ambition, pride and lust which are passions that cruelly hold a soul that submit to them in bondage.When they started to live lives of higher values which flow from the resurrection, the apostles realized that from this kind of life, emanates heavenly power which even heal mortally wounded bodies and bound broken souls.This power is always put into force at the moment of their group prayer and the invocation of the name of the Father, of the risen Christ of the Holy Spirit.About the meeting of the Christians and the power that flows from it, the scripture reports:“The faithful all used to meet by common consent in the portico of Solomon.No one else ever dared to join them, but the people were loud in their praise and the number of men and women who came to believe in the Lord increased steadily.So many signs and wonders were worked among the people at the hands of the apostles that the sick were even taken out into the streets and laid on beds and sleeping-mats in the hope that at least the shadow of Peter might fall across some of them as he went past.People even came crowding in from all towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured.”(Acts 5:12-15).

After many years of the damage caused by sin and evil in our lives, what we need is nothing but a feeling of newness and restoration.It is not just that bodily newness that comes by taking a good rest, fresh shower or a rich diet, neither is it that kind of restoration from physical headache effected by drug.What we need is something of the heart, which transforms the whole man.Such an experience is given and not acquired.But one has to set the stage for it through an authentic effort to lay sin aside, a deep faith in the power of resurrection and a sincere life of prayer.God never fail in His own part.It is not possible for someone to sincerely seek the power from on high and be left empty handed

Christ has died, but now He lives forever.His living forever means that there is nothing beyond His power and that all the principalities and powers are subject to Him.For one who wants to have an experience of the power of His resurrection, there must be in one way of the other, a kind of experience of death to the things of this life.St John the apostle reported thus:the vision he had on the day that he was under the influence of the Spirit in the Island of Patmos:“When I saw Him, I fell in a dead faint at His feet, but He touched me with His right hand and said ‘Do not be afraid; I was dead and now I Am to live forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the underworld.” (Apocalypse 1:17-18)

Jesus Christ after His resurrection showed Himself alife to the disciples when they thought He was dead, He injected courage into them when they were afraid, He gave them the gift of peace when their hearts were troubled.When they were conscious of their sins against Him and those of others, He granted them forgiveness and gave them the disposition and the grace to forgive others.In these and many other ways, they felt His power.To all who have ever felt the power of the risen Christ, He sent to be His agents of that power in these words:“As the Father has sent Me, so sent I you”.(John 20:21)