Spirituality: “Sharing our Faith in an Easter Community” By Anselm Grun

The way in which the Disciples shared their faith provides us with a beautiful image of the Church. The Church is a community of people who share what they have experienced, what they have seen and come to realize. Some share what they have experienced themselves; others refer to the experience of a third party, as in the case of the disciples in Jerusalem who tell of the appearance of the Risen One to Simon. Each one of us has a tale to tell about our journey on the road. When our experience on the road has opened our eyes and made our hearts burn within us, then we have encountered the Risen One.

For Luke, whenever our heart is moved in its innermost core or, as Paul Tillich puts it, whenever something “speaks to us unconditionally,” there, infallibly, we experience the Resurrection. They are everyday experiences: conversations, encounters, meals, breaking of bread, walks, communal outings. We talk much to each other and keep meeting new people, but often the conversation remains mere talk and the meeting mere contact. Where there is true dialogue, where eyes are opened, where our hearts start to burn as we talk – there is truly Resurrection, there we meet the Risen One himself, who appears to us in the shape of a companion on the road.

What would you like to tell the people who have become dear to you? Have you often pondered in your heart what you would like to say to your friend, and have you always held back? To live the Resurrection would mean that now you stand by the inner impulse that urges you to open yourself to the other person. When you dare to say what has been forming in your heart for a long time, you will learn how a new relationship is created, how hearts begin to burn, how the Risen One himself talks within you.

Source:       Anselm Grun, Taste the Joy of Easter, pp. 49-51.