for April 18
Saturday in the Octave of Easter

It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.

 What an extraordinary claim! The words leap off the page and demand our attention. How did ‘ordinary, uneducated’ Peter (not to mention, sinful, cowardly Peter) become someone who could emerge from a night in prison to stand in front of the elders, scribes and leaders and make this bold claim?

Also, how can we become like that too?

All week, the liturgy of the word has paired the early chapters of the church’s mission in the Acts of the Apostles with the appearance stories from the gospels. The juxtaposition of endings and beginnings invites us to reflect on the transitions in our own faith stories. Today, we read appearance stories from the gospel of Mark.

The first verses of Mark’s gospel get right to the point: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The ending is far less clear. Does this gospel actually end in with a vision at the empty tomb, announcing that ‘he is risen and you will see him as he told you? (Mk 16:5-8) Or does it end with a later addition, part of which we read today, a trio of references to the other gospels, in which the risen Christ appears to Mary Magdalene, to two disciples as they were walking, and to the Eleven at table? That is for scholars to decide. In either case, the gospel portrays the disciples pretty much as they have been throughout: fearful and slow to believe what they have seen and heard. And Jesus keeps appearing to them, keeps showing up, until they recognize him, leave their fear behind, and move forward in faith.

What connects the appearance stories in Mark’s gospel to Peter’s refusal to keep silent about what God has done by raising Jesus from death? How did Peter and the rest of the disciples move from fear to faith? Perhaps an answer lies in the way we return to these stories, retelling them not only each day in this week after Easter, but year after year.

What you fall in love with, the late Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe is thought to have said, will decide everything, from the moment you get out of bed in the morning on. Having fallen in love a time or two (or more) I might add: what you get out of bed and show up for, returning day after day after day, is what you will stay in love with. And what you stay in love with will shape you: gradually, imperceptibly, entirely, until it is impossible not to speak of it.

In this present moment, many of us are more scared than bold. It may be enough to keep returning to the ordinary things that we love: our family and friends, the stories of our faith. If we just keep showing up, the slow steady work of transformations in faith can happen. Then, when one day we speak about what we’ve seen and heard in these days, we too will be unable to keep silent about what God has done for us.
—BJ Brown

 Today’s readings can be found on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website.