In a few days the Roman Catholic Church will celebrate the Ascension of the Lord (May 26th). The Gospel of Luke (24:46-53) when narrating this experience says: "You are witnesses of this." We may wonder what exactly we are witness to. A quick read of the text offers two distinct points: on the one hand, that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again, and on the other, that in his name the need to return to God and the forgiveness of sins should be preached to all nations. But seen more deeply, it turns out that the testimony of Christians revolves around a single issue: love.
Now, the gospels speak of love not as a theory but as an experience. It is the experience of Jesus who lived his life in complete and generous self-giving to his Father and to the people.
We are witnesses to Jesus' generous self-giving and we are called to bear witness to that self-giving with our own lives. Stephen was the first to take that step by forgiving those who killed him (Acts 7: 55-60). We are called to bear witness to the possibility of living in communion with God in a world that does not seem to need Him. We are called to bear witness to a love that forgives in a world that seeks security in force and resorts to violence to resolve conflicts. Faced with this situation, our testimony seems so weak, and yet it is so necessary.
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