Christ is risen, alleluia!
One of the gifts that Our Lord imparted upon the disciples after His Resurrection was opening their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the Word of God in the flesh. Therefore, everything in the Old Testament in the law of Moses and in the prophets and the psalms finds its fulfillment in Jesus (Lk. 24:46). The New Testament, having been written after Christ’s Resurrection, embodies the full revelation of God to men. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are called to keep His Word alive in our hearts.
St. Peter and the other Apostles were sent by Christ to preach His Word in order to evoke faith in the hearers. The Church is formed into one by the Word of the living God. “The preaching of the Word is required for the sacramental ministry itself, since the sacraments are sacraments of faith, drawing their origin and nourishment from the Word” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1122). When the Word of God is preached, faith comes alive in human hearts. The risen Lord Jesus is among His people as His living Word is proclaimed.
Pray to the Holy Spirit to receive His gift of understanding the Holy Scriptures. St. John assures us in the Second Reading today that, “Whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him” (1 Jn. 2:5). We are not a religion of a book but of the Word, Jesus Christ, living and active. The Resurrection brings the Word of God to fulfillment. Live in the Word; live in Christ Jesus, the full revelation of God in the flesh.
Happy Easter,
Fr. Geary
Saint James Catholic Church 