Homily for Monday, 20 April 2015– Monday of the Third Week of Easter

Readings of the day: Acts 6:8-15; Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30; John 6:22-29

What does it mean to be a witness?

Witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most consistent themes in Acts that we continue to hear during this Easter season. Who are the witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ? We are witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we witness in an even greater way to the resurrection of Jesus Christ by uniting ourselves to the spirit and experience of the first witnesses to Christ’s resurrection.

Today we encounter one of these first witnesses, Stephen. We hear of St. Stephen, the New Testament’s first martyr; the first to witness to Christ by his life and by his death. And how does Stephen witness to Christ? The Acts of the Apostles says that he was “filled with grace and power… working great wonders and signs among the people.” Stephen spoke with a divine wisdom, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, which those persecuting him “could not withstand.”

But how do we witness to the risen Christ today? For us, to give our lives as martyrs for our faith is improbable. But we are all still called to be witnesses. How? In our reading today from John’s Gospel, Jesus gives us some idea of how we are to be witnesses to him. Jesus says to the people he has just fed by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”

In this Eucharistic celebration we, too, eat and drink of bread and wine, which becomes in our presence the Body and Blood of Christ, and we become “filled.” Our becoming “filled” with the presence of Christ himself, more than having seen any sign, makes us witnesses; gives us the responsibility to witness to the risen Christ by the way we live.

We witness to Christ, upon whom God “has set his seal.” But we also have received the “seal” of God. We, too, have been sealed with God’s Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation. This seal with God’s Spirit whom we have received makes us witnesses; indeed makes us “little Christs” in our world.

How do we fulfill this mission of being “little Christs”; being witnesses to Christ in our world? We do not need to (and probably will not) become martyrs like St. Stephen. We are not expected to work miracles. All Jesus asks of us is this: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” And “believe in the one [God] sent.”

“The food that endures for eternal life” is our faith community. It is our community when we reach out to one another with works of kindness, justice, and forgiveness. It is our community gathered here for Eucharist; to pray together. “The food that endures for eternal life” is our creativity in helping those most in need; in being present to the sick; the dying; those who have lost loved ones. In these and so many other ways, we show to our world that we “believe in the one [God] sent,” Jesus Christ. We act as Christ acted, and we are true witnesses to his death and resurrection.