A miracle indeed
It is a very difficult task to change people's attitudes or mind-sets, to change whole personalities, to turn around life's patterns, needs a miracle.
Twelve men, unlettered in the main, yet skilled in the practical aspects of the fisherman’s trade, once followed Christ for diverse reasons. Some dreamt of an earthly kingdom in which they would have power and prestige. Others imagined they would be endowed with great supernatural powers. All however bathed in the reflected popularity of the new teacher from Nazareth. The shame of their leader's public execution, however, shattered all such dreams. In fear, they huddled together in the upper room, behind locked doors and then retired to their old working haunts, the shores of Lake Galilee.
How sincere were these twelve transformed men? The proof of their sincerity lay in their spilled blood. Nor did it all end with Roman swords blunted by Christian bodies, or wild beasts satiated with Christian blood. The cycles of the years have spun away into history, yet each cycle has produced millions of transformed hearts, minds and voices to echo the cry, ‘He has risen’.
In our own times, great eternal truths have been dissolved away by the acids of disbelief, selfishness and ignorance. We need now more than ever, brave followers of Christ, to witness to the fact that, despite the hopelessness which seems to have settled over us, despite our inability to solve the major world problems, a radical transformation is still possible. It is the ‘Light of Christ’, that same power which long ago transformed simple fishermen into giants of apostles, which can still radically change our materialistic, pleasure-loving, selfish society into a ‘kingdom of justice, a kingdom of love, peace and understanding.’
This Eastertide, let us, encouraged by our Lenten prayer, self-denial and almsgiving, be bold enough not only to hope and pray for such a transformation but also with uplifted voices, to confidently proclaim ‘He is risen....He is risen indeed’
Easter reflection extract by Fr Frank Freeman SDB, http://www.cam.org.au/News-and-Events/Reflections/