Vidi Dominum: I Have Seen the Lord

05-24-2015Weekly ReflectionFr. Will Schmid

Venit Maria Magdalena annuntians discipulis: Vidi Dominum! Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples: I have seen the Lord! (John 20:18).

Vidi Dominum! I have seen the Lord! These were the joyful words spoken by St. Mary Magdalene to the disciples, announcing to them the good news that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. What wonderful words from our patroness. What a powerful message.

There is nothing more joyful in the life of the Christian than an encounter with the Risen Lord. It is such a powerful experience that it must be shared. The Christian can't help but tell everyone the good news of this encounter. In his recent apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis remarked, "Goodness always tends to spread. Every authentic experience of truth and goodness seeks by its very nature to grow within us." (1)

One of the great joys of being the pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Parish is that I am privileged with the gift of hearing the many stories of how Jesus Christ has changed the lives of the members of our community. Christ is very much alive and at work in our parish. The joy of these encounters with Jesus Christ are so powerful that I find myself sharing them as often as possible. The reaction that I receive from sharing these stories is that people love hearing them. Every community needs to know the fruit that is being born from the work of the Holy Spirit. Seeing the fruit of the Holy Spirit is a need for every Christian community. It is for this reason that we have chosen a new format for our bulletin, and have given the Latin translation of St. Mary Magdalene's testimony of her first encounter with the Risen Christ as its title: Vidi Dominum; I have seen the Lord!

The format for the new bulletin will reflect St. Mary Magdalene's joyful proclamation. Each week there will be various articles that will provide us with a beautiful opportunity to learn more about our Catholic faith and hear about how Jesus Christ is alive and at work in our parish. Regularly, there will be articles devoted to important catechetical topics helping us grow in our understanding of Jesus Christ and His Church. These articles will allow us to explore various topics with more depth, providing more than just a few brief thoughts about the weekly readings. One of the great strengths of our Easter Vigil, 2015 parish is that we have many staff members and parishioners who have formally studied theology, catechesis, and apologetics and have a wealth of knowledge to offer our community. These catechetical articles will provide a beautiful opportunity for myself and these members of our community to share their knowledge of Christ with us.

In addition to catechetical articles, there will be featured interviews with parishioners and other people from the Diocese of Phoenix who are doing good work for Jesus Christ. I never cease to be amazed by the fascinating stories of our parishioners and families. These interviews will give us an opportunity to hear inspiring stories and rejoice in the interesting and exciting work of the Holy Spirit.

We will also be featuring short testimonies from St. Mary Magdalene parishioners whose lives have been transformed by Jesus Christ through our parish programs and ministries. As many of you have already discovered, St. Mary Magdalene is a busy parish. Jesus Christ is alive and at work in our programs and ministries. It is a joy to provide an opportunity to share the testimonies of those who have en- countered the Risen Christ through the life of our parish. As St. Mary Magdalene shared the joy of her encounter with Jesus Christ, these testimonies will be an opportunity for us to follow in her footsteps, sharing the joy of our encounters with Jesus Christ.

At a conference in Rimini, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI said,

We must learn to see Him. If we know Him, not only in words, but if we are struck by the arrow of his paradoxical beauty, then we will truly know him, and know him not only because we have heard others speak about him. Then we will have found the beauty of Truth, of the Truth that redeems. Nothing can bring us into close contact with the beauty of Christ himself other than the world of beauty created by faith and light that shines out from the faces of the saints, through whom his own light becomes visible. (2)

It is through the witness of others that we are brought to an encounter of the beauty of Jesus Christ. The more we encounter Christ at work in others, the more we can see the work of God in us.

Monsignor Luigi Giussani, an Italian priest and founder of the Communion and Liberation movement once said, "Christ chose you as instruments to tell others what He is, to awaken in others the love for what He is, because He is the destiny of everyone." (3) All of us long for Jesus Christ. He is the satisfaction of our desires. My hope and prayer is that this new bulletin format provides a beautiful instrument for you to discover who Jesus Christ is, to love Jesus Christ for who He is, so that you might live your destiny in Him. May each bulletin be an opportunity for you to say, Vidi Dominum, I have seen the Lord!

Endnotes

1. Pope Francis. The Joy of the Gospel (Kentucky: The Dynamic Catholic Institute, 2014), 13.

2. Ratzinger, Joseph. "The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty," August 24, 2002, <http:// www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/ documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20020824_ratzinger-clrimini_en.html>, 1.

3. Giussani, Luigi. Is It Possible to Live This Way? An Unusual Approach to Christian Existence/Vol. 1: Faith (London: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009), 152.

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