Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Lectionary: 264
Lectionary: 264
As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John,
all the people hurried in amazement toward them
in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”
When Peter saw this, he addressed the people,
“You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this,
and why do you look so intently at us
as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence,
when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
And by faith in his name,
this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong,
and the faith that comes through it
has given him this perfect health,
in the presence of all of you.
Now I know, brothers and sisters,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,
and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment
and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus,
whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration
of which God spoke through the mouth
of his holy prophets from of old.
For Moses said:
A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.
Everyone who does not listen to that prophet
will be cut off from the people.
“Moreover, all the prophets who spoke,
from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days.
You are the children of the prophets
and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors
when he said to Abraham,
In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you
by turning each of you from your evil ways.”
all the people hurried in amazement toward them
in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”
When Peter saw this, he addressed the people,
“You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this,
and why do you look so intently at us
as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence,
when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
And by faith in his name,
this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong,
and the faith that comes through it
has given him this perfect health,
in the presence of all of you.
Now I know, brothers and sisters,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,
and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment
and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus,
whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration
of which God spoke through the mouth
of his holy prophets from of old.
For Moses said:
A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.
Everyone who does not listen to that prophet
will be cut off from the people.
“Moreover, all the prophets who spoke,
from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days.
You are the children of the prophets
and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors
when he said to Abraham,
In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you
by turning each of you from your evil ways.”
Responsorial
PsalmPS 8:2AB AND 5, 6-7, 8-9
R.(2ab) O Lord,
our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
O LORD, our Lord,
how glorious is your name over all the earth!
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
O LORD, our Lord,
how glorious is your name over all the earth!
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaPS 118:24
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 24:35-48
The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
"Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have."
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things."
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
"Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have."
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things."
Meditation: Jesus opened
their minds to understand the Scriptures
Aren't
we like the apostles? We wont believe unless we can see with our own eyes. The
Gospel accounts attest to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus from the
grave. Jesus goes to great lengths to assure his disciples that he is no mere
ghost or illusion. He shows them the marks of his crucifixion and he explains
how the Scriptures foretold his death and rising.
Jerome (347-420
AD), an early church bible scholar, comments:
"As
he showed them real hands and a real side, he really ate with his disciples; really
walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real tongue; really reclined at
supper; with real hands took bread, blessed and broke it, and was offering it
to them... Do not put the power of the Lord on the level with the tricks of
magicians, so that he may appear to have been what he was not, and may be
thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without
hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no
ribs." (From a letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 34)
The
door to heaven and key to paradise is through the cross
The centrality of the Gospel message is the cross - but fortunately it does not stop there. Through the cross Jesus defeated our enemies - death and Satan and won pardon for our sins. His cross is the door to heaven and the key to paradise. The way to glory is through the cross. When the disciples saw the risen Lord they disbelieved for joy! How can death lead to life, the cross to victory? Jesus shows us the way and he gives us the power to overcome sin and despair, and everything else that would stand in the way of his love and truth. Just as the first disciples were commissioned to bring the good news of salvation to all the nations, so, we, too, are called to be witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to all who live on the face of the earth. Do you witness the joy of the Gospel to those around you?
The centrality of the Gospel message is the cross - but fortunately it does not stop there. Through the cross Jesus defeated our enemies - death and Satan and won pardon for our sins. His cross is the door to heaven and the key to paradise. The way to glory is through the cross. When the disciples saw the risen Lord they disbelieved for joy! How can death lead to life, the cross to victory? Jesus shows us the way and he gives us the power to overcome sin and despair, and everything else that would stand in the way of his love and truth. Just as the first disciples were commissioned to bring the good news of salvation to all the nations, so, we, too, are called to be witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to all who live on the face of the earth. Do you witness the joy of the Gospel to those around you?
"Lord
Jesus, open our minds to understand the Scriptures that we may fully comprehend
the truth of your word. Anoint us with your power and give us joy and boldness
to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed."
A
Daily Quote for Easter Week: The Easter Alleluia, by Augustine of
Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"We
are praising God now, assembled as we are here in church; but when we go on our
various ways again, it seems as if we cease to praise God. But provided we do
not cease to live a good life, we shall always be praising God. You cease to
praise God only when you swerve from justice and from what is pleasing to God.
If you never turn aside from the good life, your tongue may be silent but your
actions will cry aloud, and God will perceive your intentions; for as our ears
hear each others voices, so do God's ears hear our thoughts. " (excerpt
from commentary on Psalm 148)
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, LUKE 24:35-48
Thursday within the Octave of Easter
(Acts 3:11-26; Psalm 8)
KEY VERSE: "He stood in their midst and said to them, `Peace be with you'" (v. 36).
TO KNOW: After the two pilgrims from Emmaus recognized Jesus "in the breaking of the bread" (v. 35), they returned to Jerusalem to announce the good news of the resurrection to the eleven Apostles and those with them. But they discovered that Simon (Peter) had already experienced the risen Lord. Then the pilgrims recounted how their hearts burned within them on their journey to Emmaus, how Jesus opened the scriptures to them, and how he became known to them in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking, Jesus appeared in their midst and imparted peace to his distressed followers. He reassured them that he was not a ghost by showing them the wounds of the crucifixion and by sharing a meal with them. He reminded them that he had told them that he would suffer, die and rise from the dead. Jesus declared that everything in the scriptures had been fulfilled by him. His followers were witnesses of these events, and were commanded to proclaim a message of "repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (v. 47).
TO LOVE: In what ways do I bring the peace of Christ to those who are anxious and afraid?
TO SERVE: Risen Lord, give me the courage to proclaim your resurrection.
Thursday within the Octave of Easter
(Acts 3:11-26; Psalm 8)
KEY VERSE: "He stood in their midst and said to them, `Peace be with you'" (v. 36).
TO KNOW: After the two pilgrims from Emmaus recognized Jesus "in the breaking of the bread" (v. 35), they returned to Jerusalem to announce the good news of the resurrection to the eleven Apostles and those with them. But they discovered that Simon (Peter) had already experienced the risen Lord. Then the pilgrims recounted how their hearts burned within them on their journey to Emmaus, how Jesus opened the scriptures to them, and how he became known to them in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking, Jesus appeared in their midst and imparted peace to his distressed followers. He reassured them that he was not a ghost by showing them the wounds of the crucifixion and by sharing a meal with them. He reminded them that he had told them that he would suffer, die and rise from the dead. Jesus declared that everything in the scriptures had been fulfilled by him. His followers were witnesses of these events, and were commanded to proclaim a message of "repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (v. 47).
TO LOVE: In what ways do I bring the peace of Christ to those who are anxious and afraid?
TO SERVE: Risen Lord, give me the courage to proclaim your resurrection.
Thursday 25 April 2019
EASTER THURSDAY
Acts 3:11‑26. Psalm 8:2, 5-9. Luke 24:35-48.
O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! –
Psalm 8:2, 5-9.
‘Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself.’
Jesus appears to the disciples and it takes a long time for them
to absorb and believe this unexpected event. Luke explains that ‘in their joy
they were disbelieving and still wondering’. The disciples experience renewed
hope and abounding life as he eats and opens the scriptures before them. Jesus
enters their lives as an invitation to believe.
In the reading from Acts, the disciples break into other
people’s lives as Jesus did. They surprise the people. Peter not only cures a
man, but he also teaches about Jesus, his resurrection, and the hope and
possibility found in Jesus’ presence.
We shall find him at the table with our fellow Christians and in
people we meet on the road. Our faith is in Jesus Christ, dead and risen,
present in our midst. ‘Touch me and see’: tangible things and people are signs
of our faith.
Saint Mark
Saint of the Day for April 25
(? – c. April 25, 68)
Saint Mark’s Story
Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New
Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. When Saint
Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark’s mother.
Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary
journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident,
from Paul’s refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite
Barnabas’s insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Because Paul later asks
Mark to visit him in prison, we may assume the trouble did not last long.
The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of
Mark emphasizes Jesus’s rejection by humanity while being God’s triumphant
envoy. Probably written for gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter
and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark’s Gospel is the gradual
manifestation of a “scandal”: a crucified Messiah.
Evidently a friend of Mark—calling him “my son”—Peter is only
one of this Gospel’s sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish
roots), and the Church at Antioch (largely gentile).
Like another Gospel writer Luke, Mark was not one of the 12
apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars
feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of
Jesus in Gethsemane: “Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen
cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off
naked” (Mark 14:51-52).
Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt.
Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the
large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.
A winged lion is Mark’s symbol. The lion derives from Mark’s
description of John the Baptist as a “voice of one crying out in the desert”
(Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the
application of Ezekiel’s vision of four winged creatures to the evangelists.
Reflection
Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do:
proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In particular,
Mark’s way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by music, drama,
poetry, or by teaching children around a family table.
Saint Mark is the Patron Saint of:
Notaries
Saint Mark
Saint of the Day for April 25
(? – c. April 25, 68)
Saint Mark’s Story
Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New
Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. When Saint
Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark’s mother.
Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary
journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident,
from Paul’s refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite
Barnabas’s insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Because Paul later asks
Mark to visit him in prison, we may assume the trouble did not last long.
The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of
Mark emphasizes Jesus’s rejection by humanity while being God’s triumphant
envoy. Probably written for gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter
and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark’s Gospel is the gradual
manifestation of a “scandal”: a crucified Messiah.
Evidently a friend of Mark—calling him “my son”—Peter is only
one of this Gospel’s sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish
roots), and the Church at Antioch (largely gentile).
Like another Gospel writer Luke, Mark was not one of the 12
apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars
feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of
Jesus in Gethsemane: “Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen
cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off
naked” (Mark 14:51-52).
Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt.
Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the
large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.
A winged lion is Mark’s symbol. The lion derives from Mark’s
description of John the Baptist as a “voice of one crying out in the desert”
(Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the
application of Ezekiel’s vision of four winged creatures to the evangelists.
Reflection
Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do:
proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In
particular, Mark’s way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by
music, drama, poetry, or by teaching children around a family table.
Saint Mark is the Patron Saint of:
Notaries
Lectio Divina: Luke 24:35-48
Lectio Divina
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Almighty God and Father,
Jesus died for us on the cross
and You raised Him from the dead.
We have not seen the marks of the nails in His hands
nor touched the wound in His side,
but we believe that He is alive
and present here among us.
Open our hearts to His word
and let us touch Him in the bread of the Eucharist,
that He may raise us above our sins
and change us into new people.
May we thus bear witness to Your risen Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jesus died for us on the cross
and You raised Him from the dead.
We have not seen the marks of the nails in His hands
nor touched the wound in His side,
but we believe that He is alive
and present here among us.
Open our hearts to His word
and let us touch Him in the bread of the Eucharist,
that He may raise us above our sins
and change us into new people.
May we thus bear witness to Your risen Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 24:35-48
The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the
way, and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread. While
they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them,
"Peace be with you." But they were startled and terrified and thought
that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that
it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have." And as he said this, he showed them his hands and
his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked
them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of baked
fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, "These are
my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything
written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be
fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And
he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise
from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of
sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from
Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
3) Reflection
• In these days after Easter, the Gospel texts narrate the
apparitions of Jesus. At the beginning, in the first years after the death and
the Resurrection of Jesus, the Christians were concerned with defending the
Resurrection through the apparitions. They themselves, the living community,
were a great apparition of the Risen Jesus. But in the measure in which the
criticism of the enemies against the faith in the Resurrection increased, and
that internally, and as there arose criticism and doubts concerning diverse
functions in the community (cf. 1 Co 1:12), they began to recall the
apparitions of Jesus. There are two types of apparitions: (a) those which
stress the doubts and the resistance of the disciples in believing in the
Resurrection, and (b) those who call attention to the orders of Jesus to the
disciples – men and women – conferring some mission to them. The first ones
respond to criticisms from the outside. These show that Christians are not
naïve and credulous persons who accept everything and anything. Au contraire!
They themselves had many doubts in believing in the Resurrection. The others
respond to the criticism from within and establish the community functions and
tasks, not on human qualities which are always debatable, but on the authority
and orders received from the Risen Jesus. The apparitions of Jesus in today’s
Gospel put together two different aspects: the doubts of the disciples and the
mission to announce and to forgive received from Jesus.
• Luke 24:35: The summary of the story of Emmaus. Returning to Jerusalem, the two disciples found the community together and they shared with them the experience that they had lived. They told them what had happened along the road and how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The community gathered together, and in turn, shared the apparition of Jesus to Peter. This was a reciprocal sharing of the experience of the Resurrection, as it also happens today when the communities gather together to share and celebrate their faith, their hope and their love.
• Luke 24:36-37: The apparition of Jesus causes great fright in the disciples. At this moment, Jesus becomes present among them and says, “Peace be with you!” This is the most frequent greeting of Jesus: “Peace be with you!” (Jn 14:27; 16:33; 20:19, 21, 26). But the disciples, upon seeing Jesus, were frightened and did not recognize Him. Before them is Jesus in person, but they think that they are seeing a ghost, a phantasm. They cannot believe it. It is now the encounter between Jesus of Nazareth and the Risen Jesus.
• Luke 24:38-40: Jesus helps them to overcome fear and unbelief. Jesus does two things to help the disciples overcome fear and unbelief. He shows them His hands and His feet, saying, “It is I Myself!”, and tells them to touch His body saying, “A ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have!” Jesus shows His hands and feet because on them is the sign of the nails (cf. Jn 20:25-27). The Risen Christ is Jesus of Nazareth, the same one who was nailed to the Cross and not a phantasm Christ as the disciples imagined when they saw Him. He orders them to touch His body, because the Resurrection is the Resurrection of the whole person, body and soul. The Resurrection has nothing to do with the theory of the immortality of the soul, which the Greeks taught.
• Luke 24:41-43: The other gesture to help them overcome unbelief. But it does not suffice! Luke said that they could not believe because their joy was so great that they became dumbfounded. Jesus asks them to give Him something to eat. They offer Him some fish and He eats before them, to help them to overcome doubt.
• Luke 24:44-47: A key to understanding the new significance of the Scripture. One of the greatest difficulties of the first Christians was that of accepting the Crucified as the promised Messiah, because the Law taught that a crucified person was a “person cursed by God” (Deut 21:22-23). For this reason, it was important to know that Scripture had already announced that “Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that in His name, conversion and forgiveness of sins would be preached to all peoples.” Jesus shows them what had already been written in the Law of Moses, in the prophets and in the psalms. Jesus risen from the dead, alive in their midst, becomes the key to opening to them the total significance of Sacred Scripture.
• Luke 24:35: The summary of the story of Emmaus. Returning to Jerusalem, the two disciples found the community together and they shared with them the experience that they had lived. They told them what had happened along the road and how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The community gathered together, and in turn, shared the apparition of Jesus to Peter. This was a reciprocal sharing of the experience of the Resurrection, as it also happens today when the communities gather together to share and celebrate their faith, their hope and their love.
• Luke 24:36-37: The apparition of Jesus causes great fright in the disciples. At this moment, Jesus becomes present among them and says, “Peace be with you!” This is the most frequent greeting of Jesus: “Peace be with you!” (Jn 14:27; 16:33; 20:19, 21, 26). But the disciples, upon seeing Jesus, were frightened and did not recognize Him. Before them is Jesus in person, but they think that they are seeing a ghost, a phantasm. They cannot believe it. It is now the encounter between Jesus of Nazareth and the Risen Jesus.
• Luke 24:38-40: Jesus helps them to overcome fear and unbelief. Jesus does two things to help the disciples overcome fear and unbelief. He shows them His hands and His feet, saying, “It is I Myself!”, and tells them to touch His body saying, “A ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have!” Jesus shows His hands and feet because on them is the sign of the nails (cf. Jn 20:25-27). The Risen Christ is Jesus of Nazareth, the same one who was nailed to the Cross and not a phantasm Christ as the disciples imagined when they saw Him. He orders them to touch His body, because the Resurrection is the Resurrection of the whole person, body and soul. The Resurrection has nothing to do with the theory of the immortality of the soul, which the Greeks taught.
• Luke 24:41-43: The other gesture to help them overcome unbelief. But it does not suffice! Luke said that they could not believe because their joy was so great that they became dumbfounded. Jesus asks them to give Him something to eat. They offer Him some fish and He eats before them, to help them to overcome doubt.
• Luke 24:44-47: A key to understanding the new significance of the Scripture. One of the greatest difficulties of the first Christians was that of accepting the Crucified as the promised Messiah, because the Law taught that a crucified person was a “person cursed by God” (Deut 21:22-23). For this reason, it was important to know that Scripture had already announced that “Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that in His name, conversion and forgiveness of sins would be preached to all peoples.” Jesus shows them what had already been written in the Law of Moses, in the prophets and in the psalms. Jesus risen from the dead, alive in their midst, becomes the key to opening to them the total significance of Sacred Scripture.
• Luke 24:48: You are witnesses of this. In this last order is
enclosed the whole mission of the Christian communities: to be witnesses to the
Resurrection, in such a way that the love of God which accepts us and forgives
us will be manifested, and which wants us to live in community as sons and
daughters, brothers and sisters with one another.
4) Personal questions
• Sometimes unbelief and doubt beset the heart and weaken the
certainty that faith gives us concerning the presence of God in our life. Have
you ever experienced this? How have you overcome it?
• Our mission is that of being witnesses to the love of God revealed in Jesus. Am I a witness to this love?
• Can I identify those things in my life which cast doubt on my faith? How do I defend against these attacks?
• Our mission is that of being witnesses to the love of God revealed in Jesus. Am I a witness to this love?
• Can I identify those things in my life which cast doubt on my faith? How do I defend against these attacks?
5) Concluding Prayer
What are human beings
that You spare a thought for them,
or the child of Adam that You care for him? (Ps 8:4)
that You spare a thought for them,
or the child of Adam that You care for him? (Ps 8:4)
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