A constant struggle Apg 4,13-21

The proverb says: “Repetition is the mother of wisdom.” We know that those who want to achieve something great often have to start again and again and overcome initial failures and difficulties, and only then can we talk about victory. A passage from the Gospel draws our attention to Christ’s actions after his resurrection. Jesus rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart. From these words of Jesus, we can feel instruction and encouragement for us in our struggles for a deeper faith and a stronger attachment to Christ. This excerpt from the Gospel is from Mark’s appendix, where he recapitulates the revelation of the Lord Jesus from the other gospels after his resurrection, first to Mary Magdalene, to the two Emmaus disciples, and finally to the eleven apostles at the table. After his resurrection, Jesus must start with his disciples from the beginning.

All the enthusiasm and zeal of the three years they spent with Jesus seems to have evaporated. However, Jesus continues to free his apostles from sadness and hopelessness, and even here, we encounter real unbelief, the hardness of the apostles’ hearts because they did not believe those who saw the resurrected Christ. This struggle of the apostles, their doubts, and disbelief, is not unfamiliar to us in our faith journey. Jesus approaches the apostles again and awakens faith in them, in this small group of people, because he knows that they will soon become the foundation of the future Church. Even this doubt of theirs will serve many to accept the faith and teachings of Christ. Therefore, Jesus seems to be working again to awaken the shaken faith of his apostles. In the Gospel, Mark uses the words – to all creation. We can say that in this designation it is a missionary terminology that is used for Christians from paganism, where we understand that all people, the whole creation are to meet the preaching of the Gospel and be transformed for us.

This Gospel is a struggle between Jesus and Peter, John and Thomas, but it is also about us. After all, we have not seen Jesus; we have not touched his pierced hands and side, and yet we believe. Why? Because Jesus addressed us, he wrestled with us like his first apostles. And so he also invites us to follow him, bear witness, and proudly multiply the ranks of those who believed in one universal, apostolic Church from the beginning. Whoever believes in Christ must also persevere with him and must try to get out of doubt and cowardice because Christ wants us to be like that.

Christ wants us to be soulful and joyful heralds of good news; this is our task. Everyone who has accepted baptism also accepts this role. This is not a task for the chosen few but for all of us. Whoever wants to carry out this task must believe and not doubt. Jesus rebukes unbelief. His disciple must not be an unbeliever. We are Christian believers who were reincarnated to Christ through baptism and became his apostles. We, therefore, must testify about Christ. It is not enough to stay with the theory. How and when should we testify? We have to remind ourselves again that a good example is a fundamental way to prove with our lives that we are imbued with faith in the glorified Lord Jesus. We must not underestimate this way of apostolate, the apostolate of the word is correct, but we know that the world does not believe much in words, but wants deeds. Furthermore, we believe that life is more powerful than words.

From St.’s life, We know Francis of Assisi’s teachings. Once, he invited one of his fellow brothers, who was a well-known and famous preacher, to preach. From the morning, this brother and František walked the city streets. In the evening, he impatiently asked František when he would preach. Then Francis seriously said to him: – My brother, you have been preaching to those we meet with since morning. And lo, what does this mean for the practice of our life? We should set an example in our own lives, above all, in our families. Parents to children, man to woman, woman to man, and then to everyone else, excluding no one, our life and not just our words should address. All who meet us must see from our life that we believe in the resurrection of the body, in eternal life, in Jesus Christ. This requires constant starting and repetition in our lives. We must not be disgusted because the example is Jesus Christ himself, who repeatedly instructs and encourages his apostles after his resurrection.