1 Cor 15:12-20 / Luke 8:1-3
Paul talks about our resurrection: Christ has been raised.
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Cornelius (+253) and Cyprian (+258), the first a pope, the
second a bishop, both asserted the freedom to spread the message of Christ and
both paid with their lives for their courage. To them, Christ was worth living
for and therefore worth dying for. They preferred their inner freedom, for
which Christ had paid the price, to freedom from bodily harm; they witnessed to
the right of people to be free from all oppression.
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Women in
the Church
New
Testament scholars confirm that, in comparison with the literary works of the
then times, the gospels contain unusually high number of references to women.
According to some scholars, of all founders of religions and sects, Jesus is
unique in his welcome and affirmation of women. Jesus was humble enough to
learn even from a pagan woman – the Syro-Phoenician woman who reminded him that
gentiles were not to be excluded from the mercy of God (cf. Mt 15:27). In an
age when the testimony of a woman was given only half the weightage of that of
a man, Jesus chose Mary Magdalene to be apostle to the apostles, to be the
first bearer of the good news of his resurrection. Today’s gospel testifies to
how women felt free and welcome to be his followers. If Jesus welcomed men and
women without any discrimination, our parishes, faith communities, and homes must
also become places where women play significant roles in discipleship,
evangelization, and leadership.
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For the apostles, the Cross and resurrection are the center of their faith. "If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either". The connection between our resurrection and his is this: Christ came down for us and for our salvation. The life of Christ, God-made-man, has no meaning unless it is for the salvation of men. He came down to make good Adam's sin, to open heaven for us. If he had died and not risen again on the third day, death would have been the end and his life meaningless. Our faith would be in vain. Redemption would have no meaning. The apostles would be false witnesses, our hope an illusion; those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost like all unbelievers. There is no remission of sins; we are still in our sins. Every Christian is drawn into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. It is the question of our whole existence. Life without this faith is meaningless.
St. Paul expressed his conviction about the resurrection of Jesus even to the extent that he and those who proclaimed the resurrection and are shown up as witnesses would have committed perjury before God since they swore before God that He had raised Christ to life.
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Where do we find other evidence of the resurrection? "We are Easter people." St. Augustine of Hippo
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Good news, like all news, wants to be spread. For this, Christ needs an organized effort and teamwork. He chose for his team a motley but dedicated group. Already the team of his apostles was a selection of different characters and temperaments. There were women in the company not as preachers, but to look after their needs of them. This astonishes me even today. The Jerusalem Bible gives this passage the heading. "The women accompanying Jesus", forgetting the Twelve and the many others that were with him. The first name is that of Mary Magdalene, traditionally the sinful woman he had met in Simon’s house; Joanna the wife of Chuza, who was the steward of Herod, which means his finance administrator. This made her a woman of wealth and influence. Susanna is just a good efficient woman, anxious to serve. Did he call them sisters? Every talent was welcome. They had to work in unity as a team and make many sacrifices touring. Their job was the greatest: Bringing Christ to the world.
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To do volunteer work is a matter of choice. We can choose to do it or we may choose not to do it. And if we choose to do volunteer work, then we will see if it suits our availability and our suitability. In other words, we usually do volunteer work according to what we choose to do, and usually, it is at our convenience.
In the gospel, we hear of a group of people following Jesus in His mission of preaching and proclaiming the Good News. It was like a motley collection of people of various statuses in society. Besides the Twelve, there were also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments, like Mary Magdalene and Susanna. More than just being volunteers, they provided for the group out of their own resources. They don't choose to give out of their own convenience but according to what the group required. For these women, they have a conviction of who Jesus is and of His mission. They had experienced it for themselves and that led to their conviction.
For St. Paul and those who followed Jesus, to serve God is certainly not a voluntary work that is done in their terms and conditions. For them to serve and witness to the Lord is a choice and a conviction. May we also have the conviction to make the same choice.
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Let us pray: Lord our God, men and women are responsible together for the life of faith of our Christian communities. As they were disciples of Jesus and his companions on the road, may they also accompany us today, with their identity and potential, that the Church may grow and its faith be alive and imbued with love. We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer
Lord our God, your Son Jesus Christ, gave himself totally for the sake of those he loved – that is for all.Like him, Saints Cornelius and Cyprian gave themselves for their flock. Give us a bit of this unselfish love, that we too, may learn that there is more in giving ourselves than in receiving honor and favors. May the Spirit make us also so much one, that we graciously share with one another our God-given riches and gifts. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
