Jn. 1: 35-42
In the recent past, we have come across the heroic witness of Rostampour and Amirizadeh, who were sentenced in Iran for practising the Christian faith. They were charged with apostasy for hosting prayer meetings and distributing the Bible. These religious acts are considered a punishable offence in Iran. They were sentenced in Tehran’s Evin prison which is known for its barbarous and prolonged form of torture. At the beginning of their imprisonment days, they were praying for their quick release. After a while, they realized their mission to be agents of evangelization among their fellow prisoners. They were regarded as dirty Christians by fellow prisoners. However, after a short period, the fellow prisoners underwent a total conversion and deeply touched by their Christian witness. Slowly they showed interest to get to know more about Christ and the Good News. Thus they received the seeds of faith from them.
The most moving experience is that even the prison guards were convinced of their ardent faith in Jesus. One of the prison guards approached them to pray for her so that she may overcome her infertility problems and conceive a child. They prayed for her and she became pregnant. Anyhow, they had to pass through very hard imprisonment. They were denied their basic needs quite often. Whenever they became sick, doctors denied medical help because they committed the crime of apostasy. In the end, after 259 days of imprisonment, they were freed from the prison due to international pressure. They received political asylum in the US and carrying on proclaiming their Christ experience to their fellow brethren…
Bible is all about sharing the Good News or God experience with others. Even the division of the Bible itself indicates this fact; that is the Old Testament and the New testament. Bible is a collection of God experience or Testament of various people at different epoch of history. Once a person experiences Christ and his Good News then he/she can’t remain to himself/herself. We will reach out to our fellow brethren to share the Good News with them. When Mary receives the Good News, she goes in haste to the hill country of Judea with this same intention of sharing her Good News with her cousin Elizabeth. In the gospels, we come across several examples wherein the people who receive the Christ experience they go around and proclaiming the great deeds that Jesus had done in their life.
In today’s gospel, we come across such a wonderful sharing of Good News by Andrew to his brother Simon Peter. When John the Baptist points out Jesus to Andrew, he goes and stays with Jesus. Once he experiences the person of Jesus, he begins his mission of sharing this Good News that he has received with others. He shared this Good News, first with his brother Simon: “We have found the Messiah.” And he brought Simon to Jesus. Thus, Andrew becomes a channel of God’s grace to the life of his brother. Jesus renames Simon as ‘Peter,’ he is no more fragile fisherman but called to become a great leader and instrument of sharing his Good News. Later we see, How Peter share his Christ experience after the Pentecost and thousands were believing in Christ and recognizing Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah.
The Good News that we have received is the fruit of someone’s Christ experience. It can be our parents, siblings who are nourished and cherished through our priests, religious, catechists, friends etc. Nevertheless, did we share the Good News that we received with someone else? Did we think anytime seriously about bringing someone closer to Christ-like Andrew brought Simon to Jesus? Several parts of the world Church is losing its roots. There are no vocations to religious or priestly life and no more vibrant Christian communities etc. why is it so? The early Christian community is considered as the ideal Christian community of all the time. In this community, not only 12 apostles but all were instruments of evangelization. They shared their Christ experience with all those whom they come across. At times, we remain silent about proclaiming Jesus by stating various reasons. It is our basic duty as Christians to share our Christ experience, the Good News with our fellow brethren who did not even hear or lost his/her interest in practising faith. Let us take the best of our efforts to bring them closer to the person of Christ… Like Andrew, the apostle, Rostampour and Amirizadeh, the courageous Christian witness from Iran, may we be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to proclaim to the world that we have found the Messiah.