YOU ARE WITNESSES OF THESE THINGS

At 3,11-26; Ps 8; Lk 24,35-48
5 APRIL
If the risen Jesus is not in the heart of his disciples, never might he be on their lips. We always talk about the fullness of the heart. If in the heart there is Christ, the mouth will speak of Him. Instead if in the heart there is the Gehenna of the fire, one will speak from falsehood, from the lie, from slander and from vanity. Who purifies the heart, will always have his lips pure. Jesus comes. The heart of his disciples is not in his truth. It is urgent to open it to the knowledge of the Law, of the Prophets and of the Psalms. In the Word of the Father all his mystery is hidden. He reveals to them, by divine illumination, the truth of the Word and his mystery will enter into them and will always be on their lips. We can illuminate the mind with every truth about Jesus the Lord. But only the Holy Spirit writes the truth in the hearts. Whoever wants Christ to be written in the hearts must always walk full of the Holy Spirit. This on their lips becomes Word and the breath of truth. In the heart, because having been brought by the Word, he is transformed into a style of light, into a true celestial laser ray, and engraves in them the whole truth of Christ, all his mystery, in which the mystery of the Father and every other mystery of the present, of the future, of the past, of time and of eternity, are.

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more (Jer 31,31-34).

In the Cenacle, Jesus fulfils the prophecy of the Father. He writes his mystery in their hearts. But still this writing is not enough so that they leave and go throughout the world as his witnesses. It is also necessary that they themselves are clothed with strength from above, that is, they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Is not the knowledge of the truth alone enough? Knowing the truth and knowing how the truth must be given to every heart, are two very different things. The Holy Spirit does not confer the science of the gift to anyone. As to no one he confers his other gifts, without him. One receives Him, he dresses himself with Him, he is filled with Him, He exercises His gifts in us. One is without Him, he is not clothed with Him, he is not filled with Him, His gifts might never act in us. Owning the truth is one thing. Having the fortitude to give it is another thing. For this reason, the gift of the Holy Spirit and our life in Him must always be added to the knowledge of Scriptures.

Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

The apostolic mission is quite clear. They will have to go throughout the world, starting from Jerusalem, to preach to all peoples the conversion and the forgiveness of sins. Conversion is to the Gospel, to Christ the Lord. The forgiveness of sins is in his name.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us true witnesses of Jesus.