In both today's first reading and in the Gospel the word "witnesses" appears. St. Peter uses it in his first public preaching to express the fundamental mission of the Apostles: “The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.” For his part, in the conclusion of the Gospel, the Lord said to his friends: "You are witnesses of these things." Of what things? In the first instance, witnesses of the events of the Paschal Mystery: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord. Secondly, witnesses of the Person of Jesus Christ himself and of his teaching in its entirety, without compromise.
Dear brothers and sisters, this word “witnesses” makes us somewhat uncomfortable because it seems difficult to apply it to ourselves. Certainly, the apostles were privileged witnesses because they were there in person. Undoubtedly, they are qualified witnesses and for this reason, they are the foundation of what we call in the Church the Sacred Apostolic Tradition. Our faith is based on that of those poor men who were earthen vessels in which the world could find the treasures of God.
We are now witnesses for today's world. A witness is someone who has seen something that can be attested to by others. Therefore, there are two essential aspects of witnessing: first, the fact of having been present at the events; then, to announce those events as we have experienced them.
How can we be witnesses of something we have not seen? How can we speak of the Resurrection if we have not touched the glorious body of the Lord? On this point I would like to say two things: yes, we can and we must bear witness to our encounter with Christ. Just as it happened to St. Paul on the road to Damascus, the Risen Lord has come to us, too. Jesus allows himself to be seen and touched even today!
In our lives, we recognize two types of people. One type is those we have met but who do not really affect us, or whose encounter has not really changed us, someone about whom we could say: "My life would be practically the same if I had not met them." The second type of people is those whose encounter has transformed us. Those without whom we would not be who we are. Men and women who have had an impact, and have left such a mark on us that our existence would be completely different without them.
From this perspective, I can say without fear of contradiction that the person who has had the greatest influence on my life is the person of Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, I would not be me. Without Jesus, I would not be here. Without Jesus, I would not be a priest either. My way of thinking, my affections, my way of seeing the world, my way of contemplating myself, my day-to-day life, the meaning of what I do, nothing would be the same if I had not met the Risen Christ. And of that, I am also a witness. I proclaim him not as a dead thing, as an impersonal and tedious code of conduct, but as the greatest influence in my life, as the most definitive person, as the greatest joy and my only hope, and of that I can speak in the first person.
The second thing I want to say is that in the Eucharist, do we not also truly touch the Lord's body? In the Holy Mass, does not the Risen Lord eat with us as we have seen him eat with his disciples in today's Gospel? The words of St. Peter at Pentecost in which he affirms, "we who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead", can we not also use them, we who at every Mass eat and drink with him and of him?
We too are witnesses of the Resurrection. Christ also eats with us every Sunday and he has touched us and changed our lives. Now it is up to us to be His witnesses in the world and to remain faithful to the message of the Risen One, which anyone can receive if he repents of his sins. The witness must be faithful in his testimony because if he taints or changes the message received if he does not keep the Lord’s commandments then he becomes, as St. John told us in the second reading, a liar and the truth is no longer in him.
Finally, there is one last element of witnessing, and that is ecclesia, the Church. Jesus and St. Peter use the word “witness” in its plural form, “witnesses”. It is true that each one of us is a witness of what we have personally experienced, but it is also true that we do not do so in isolation, but in communion with our brothers and sisters in faith. It is this union in witness that gives strength to our message, that attracts a divided world like ours, that illuminates the darkness. Unity, communion in the Church is the best service we can render to the people of the world today.
At this Holy Mass, let us ask the Lord for the grace of an encounter with him, of a change of life, and of union with our brothers and sisters in the Church. Let us ask to be witnesses of what we have personally experienced, of what we celebrate every week, of what moves our lives daily. May everyone find the Risen Christ, the only Redeemer of mankind, the only real meaning and joy, the only goal of human existence.
