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:
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.
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.”
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
Psalm8:2AB 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.
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 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.”
“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 16, LUKE 24:35-48
THURSDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER
(Acts 3:11-26; Psalm 8)
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 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 16 April 2020
Acts 3:11-26. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name
in all the earth! – Psalm 8:2, 5-9. Luke 24:35-48.
It is written that Christ would suffer and on the third day rise
from the dead
Guillermo: ‘Jesus, why were the disciples always
scared out of their minds when you appeared in the room. After all, they
already knew you had risen from the dead. They should have been expecting you.’
Jesus: ‘Guillermo, disciples are like that. They get scared,
think it can’t be true, and instead of looking me in the face, they think I
can’t be for real. I need to poke them, and then they begin to catch on. But
you’re my disciple, too. Aren’t you a bit like that, too?’
Guillermo: ‘I’m not sure, Jesus. I think more often
I don’t want to notice you in the ordinary eating, chatting and working of
life. If I knew you were there I might have to celebrate life more seriously.’
Saint Bernadette Soubirous
Saint of the Day for April 16
(January 7, 1844 – April 16, 1879)
 |
| Saint Bernadette Soubirous en 1861 ou 1862 | photo by abbé P. Bernadou |
Saint Bernadette Soubirous’ Story
Bernadette Soubirous was born in 1844, the first child of an
extremely poor miller in the town of Lourdes in southern France. The family was
living in the basement of a dilapidated building when on February 11, 1858, the
Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a cave above the banks of the
Gave River near Lourdes. Bernadette, 14 years old, was known as a virtuous girl
though a dull student who had not even made her first Holy Communion. In poor
health, she had suffered from asthma from an early age.
There were 18 appearances in all, the final one occurring on the
feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16. Although Bernadette’s initial reports
provoked skepticism, her daily visions of “the Lady” brought great crowds of
the curious. The Lady, Bernadette explained, had instructed her to have a
chapel built on the spot of the visions. There, the people were to come to wash
in and drink of the water of the spring that had welled up from the very spot
where Bernadette had been instructed to dig.
According to Bernadette, the Lady of her visions was a girl of
16 or 17 who wore a white robe with a blue sash. Yellow roses covered her feet,
a large rosary was on her right arm. In the vision on March 25 she told
Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” It was only when the words were
explained to her that Bernadette came to realize who the Lady was.
Few visions have ever undergone the scrutiny that these
appearances of the Immaculate Virgin were subject to. Lourdes became one of the
most popular Marian shrines in the world, attracting millions of visitors.
Miracles were reported at the shrine and in the waters of the spring. After
thorough investigation, Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the
apparitions in 1862.
During her life, Bernadette suffered much. She was hounded by
the public as well as by civic officials until at last she was protected in a
convent of nuns. Five years later, she petitioned to enter the Sisters of Notre
Dame of Nevers. After a period of illness she was able to make the journey from
Lourdes and enter the novitiate. But within four months of her arrival she was
given the last rites of the Church and allowed to profess her vows. She
recovered enough to become infirmarian and then sacristan, but chronic health
problems persisted. She died on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35.
Bernadette Soubirous was canonized in 1933.
Reflection
Millions of people have come to the spring Bernadette uncovered
for healing of body and spirit, but she found no relief from ill health there.
Bernadette moved through life, guided only by blind faith in things she did not
understand—as we all must do from time to time.
Lectio
Divina: Luke 24:35-48
Lectio Divina
Thursday, April 16, 2020
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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