Jesus loves you! Yes, YOU!
After enduring weeks of pandemic-induced emotional upheaval, fear and uncertainty, imagine being greeted with that simple message of His love.
That’s exactly what I got today. From a chance encounter with a random stranger.
Let’s be honest here. These many weeks of isolation and stay-home orders have not been a walk in the park. In this time of Darkness, where is the Light? But just as the apostle John witnessed the empty tomb and believed with his own eyes Jesus’ Resurrection, he witnessed life after death. He witnessed hope. My friends, that is the Light in this time of Darkness! The light and hope of His Risen Presence overshadow all darkness, even a pandemic of this magnitude. He asks us only to believe and trust in Him.
In his 2018 Easter message, Pope Francis said, “Death, solitude, and fear are not the last word. There is a word that transcends them, a word that only God can speak: it is the word of the Resurrection.”
But in my chance encounter this morning, it was by the grace of a loving God that He used that moment of morning silence to radiate His Light and to remind me that He has the world’s cares and worries in the palm of His hands.
What a powerful affirmation and just the uplift needed to keep moving forward in this Easter season! In prayer, I was convinced that this was God’s “song” to be shared with this broken world, to remind us all to be open to encountering Him anywhere and everywhere, that His Risen Presence is there to be experienced if we open our eyes and hearts to it. It was just the consolation that was needed.
How fitting that today’s readings referred to a prison release scene where Peter and the apostles stood before men of authority and they were warned not to teach about Jesus, yet Peter replied anyway, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). What persevering faith! No fear of ridicule or threat of death can stop that. It is by this same spirit of courage that moves people like that random stranger this morning to share. It is also by this same joyfulness that moves people to openly share grace over a meal in public, to pray the Holy Rosary on the subway ride to work, to share the Word of God with passersby on a street corner, to share dialogue and a meal with a homeless individual, to organize a clothing drive for the day shelter, or even to teach catechesis to the children in the parish.
There are perhaps a million ways to share “Jesus loves you” with anyone that God puts along our path. It is about encountering and connecting. Jesus did exactly that in His public ministry; He did not pick and choose who He wanted to connect with.
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love” (1 John 4:18) .
Today, let His song be your song to share with this broken world: Jesus loves you!
Photo credit: Zoë Gayah Jonker on Unsplash