Thursday April 20
“You will be witnesses of this,” he told them. “To all nations.” Who were they? They were a small group of frightened people cowering from the authorities. On the face of it they didn’t seem at all suitable for the task; the last thing they wanted was to be recognized as his followers.
They were “the eleven and their companions” (Lk 24:33). Projecting in today’s terms, they were the whole Church, clergy and laity; all were commissioned to go out to the whole world and bear witness. The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium has these words, “Every lay person should be a witness before the world to the resurrection and the life of the Lord Jesus, and a sign of the living God” (n. 38). In the highly clericalized Church of the past the laity were cornered into passivity: they were hearers only, not preachers of the Word. Now is the time for them to come into their strength. They will preach what they have “seen and heard”, and above all what they have experienced and lived.
Preaching with words alone is like a pallid winter sun, giving light but no warmth. The warmth of their lived experienced will give life to their preaching.
