Saturday 26^th April – Easter Saturday

Reflection: Mark 16: 9-15

THE CHRISTIAN MANDATE

Dear friends, as Christians, we share in the mandate given to the disciples by Christ in our Gospel reading today. We have the mandate to proclaim the good news of Christ to all creation. The Apostles Peter and John, after healing the lame man at the temple gate (Acts 4: 13-21), stood before the council and stated boldly that they could not obey man instead of God. What was the source of such boldness? The presence of the Holy Spirit and an encounter with Christ. They knew what they had seen and heard and they were ready to obey the divine mandate at all cost.

Beloved, there is also a need for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to carry out our mandate of evangelisation. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and helps us to go beyond our limitations. The apostles though uneducated, spoke to the amazement of the council without mincing words. Without the Holy Spirit, no man can successfully carry out this mandate of spreading the gospel as given by Jesus Christ.

Let us submit ourselves totally to the working of the Holy Spirit for He is our teacher, our counsellor, and our senior partner in this heavenly sojourn. As we do this, we will receive the required grace and strength to spread the good news of salvation through our way of life, actions, words and speech.

Prayer: Father, please help me to submit totally to the Holy Spirit and receive direction from Him. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: CCC 1294 – “…By Confirmation, Christians, that is those who are anointed, share more completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit with which he is filled so that their lives may give off “the aroma of Christ”

HIDE A TREASURE: “But Peter and John answered them, “you yourselves judge which is right in God’s sight- to obey you or to obey God” Acts 4: 19 GNB

READINGS: Acts 4: 13-21; Psalm 118: 1, 14-21; Mark 16:9-15