FULLY ALIVE!

“The glory of God is the person fully alive.” ~ St. Ireneus of Antioch

As we continue to celebrate the Resurrection. It can be likened to a watershed of human history, because through the Resurrection humans are gifted with a new dimension of life through the sending of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, reminds us of this dimension in his farewell discourse at the last Supper, assuring his disciples it was better for them that he goes, for unless he departs, the Holy Spirit would not come, and only through the presence of the Holy Spirit are we humans “fully alive.”

Even amidst his persecution, Stephen was “fully alive.”  Filled with the Spirit, Stephen is blunt, straightforward, and outspoken in his indictment of the religious leaders. “Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?” Then looking up to heaven tells them that “the Son of Man (whom they put to death) is standing at the right hand of God.” 

Luke tells us, almost as an aside, that during the stoning, the witnesses put their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul, who looked on with approval. We can surmise it must have been this experience which sowed the seeds of Paul’s future Christian faith. As he saw Stephen dying with such dignity and grace, he must have been deeply moved and disturbed. “The blood of martyrs is the seed of faith.”

What we celebrate during the Easter Season is the rebirth of human nature through the sending of the Holy Spirit. Paul, after his conversion, refers to this new life as a “new creation”. So, during this season, we would do well to attend to the signs of this new life in us. The signs of this new presence are scattered throughout the New Testament and the world around us.

John gives us the first sign in today’s gospel: belief in Jesus: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” The “I AM” strongly identifies Jesus with God and is the first of seven “I AM…” statements that appear in John’s gospel which speak of Jesus’ identity, fully alive.

“The glory of God is the person fully alive!” As we participate in sharing the bread of life, we can become fully alive when we soak ourselves in the life of Jesus, we penetrate deeply into “the Word” in scripture, and assimilate His Way into our own lives. Those who are fully alive are in close relationship with Jesus – here and now.

Are you a person fully alive?