"Suffering for the sake of the Name"
By Fr. James Conlon

How quickly the commercial world turned its attention away from Easter and towards the next great occasion out of which it can make a buck. Just last week our stores were full of quasi-Easter symbols such as eggs, bunny rabbits, flowers and today they're all gone! Yet the celebrations of the Church go on and indeed will continue until the great feast of Pentecost at the end of May. And how fitting it is that this fundamental Christian feast of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead should be celebrated for 50 days. For this is the feast that makes us who we are. We are Christian because we believe and live in the truth of Christ's victory over death. So our symbol is not the cute, furry bunny or indeed the delicious chocolate egg -- our symbol is the lighted candle. That tall majestic Paschal candle that towers over our sanctuary, declaring to the whole world that Christ, the light of the world, has been victorious and that no part of our world is untouched by the truth of his victory.

But it is not enough to simply pay lip service to Christ' victory. The harder part is to allow His victory to shine through our own words and deeds: to tell the whole world that it is the light of Christ that illumines my life, even when it is challenging and when the world neither understands nor approves. The Book of Acts tells of how the disciples, once so full of fear, but now filled with the spirit and presence of the Risen Christ, refuse to be silenced by those who opposed the Gospel. "We must obey God rather than men" they replied to demands to stop teaching. "We are witnesses" to how God worked through Jesus they proclaimed. Nothing: prison, persecution, not even death, could deter or silence them! They had experienced the truth and the need to proclaim that truth burned within them!

We too have experienced the truth of the resurrection. Of course, unlike countless millions of our brothers and sisters world wide, we most likely will never have to suffer punishment or persecution for being Christian, but we will be faced with the opportunity to testify to our own personal faith. Let us hope that we will always be faithful witnesses to its reality in our lives. May our words, actions and choices always proclaim to the world that we belong to the Risen Christ. May the light of faith burn brightly within us!

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (5:27-32, 40b-41)

When the captain and the court officers had brought the Apostles in
and made them stand before the Sanhedrin,
the high priest questioned them,
"We gave you strict orders, did we not,
to stop teaching in that name?
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and want to bring this man's blood upon us."
But Peter and the Apostles said in reply,
"We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus,
though you had Him killed by hanging Him on a tree.
God exalted Him at His right hand as leader and Savior
to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."

The Sanhedrin ordered the Apostles
to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them.
So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name.