Reflection/Homily: Second (2nd) Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday 2013
Theme: Pragmatic Christianity
Pragmatism is an ideology that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application. For instance, a pragmatist will only believe that one is a good cook not when one describes the process of preparing a particular dish but when one actually prepares it well.
Pragmatism has permeated every sector of our society and religion has not been spared. In times past, people believed a man of God by the authority with which he spoke, but today, by the signs and wonders he perform. The world wants every theory to be practiced and proved effective before it is accepted.
In the first reading (Acts 5:12-16), we can actually say that God was pragmatic in His relationship with the early Christians. The reading records that so many signs and wonders were worked among the people at the hands of the apostles. These signs and wonders were to confirm in pragmatic terms the restoration and deliverance the resurrection of Christ brought. With the signs and wonders, people came to believe in their message not because they heard but because the saw.