Thursday April 21, 2022

Octave of Easter Thursday

 

Witnesses to the Risen Lord

           

            We gather for our Eucharist because we firmly believe that Christ died for us and he is risen from the dead. We gather around the risen Lord to open our hearts and minds to his word and to let him fill us with his living presence. He tells us, as he told his apostles: “Look, it is really I; listen to me; touch me in the food and drink of the Eucharist.” Thus, in our assemblies, we proclaim the risen Christ and bear witness to him. But this faith must find expression in our everyday Christian living: since Christ is risen, he must rise in us; we must become a new people in whom Christ is alive. We must bear witness to him with the whole of our lives.

                                  

First Reading: Acts 3:11-26

The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic. All the people ran up to where they were at Solomon’s Porch to see it for themselves.

Turn to Face God

When Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:

“Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise, and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his Son Jesus. The very One that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in his place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised him from the dead—and we’re the witnesses. Faith in Jesus’ name put this man, whose condition you know so well, on his feet—yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes.

 “And now, friends, I know you had no idea what you were doing when you killed Jesus, and neither did your leaders. But God, who through the preaching of all the prophets had said all along that his Messiah would be killed, knew exactly what you were doing and used it to fulfill his plans.

 “Now it’s time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be. Moses, for instance, said, ‘Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word he speaks to you. Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.’

 “All the prophets from Samuel on down said the same thing, said most emphatically that these days would come. These prophets, along with the covenant God made with your ancestors, are your family tree. God’s covenant-word to Abraham provides the text: ‘By your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ But you are first in line: God, having raised up his Son, sent him to bless you as you turn, one by one, from your evil ways.”

 

Gospel: Luke 24:35-49 

Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.

He asked, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.

You’re the Witnesses

 Then he said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.”

He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”

 

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 up above our sins
and change us into new people.
May we thus, bear witness to your risen Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Hands and Feet

“He stood among them.” That’s how John described the first apparition of Jesus to his disciples after the resurrection. The disciples were huddled together, with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews. But Jesus breaks through the confinements and “he stood among them.” He just stood inside the circle of their fears.
Left to ourselves we would remain imprisoned forever inside our locked doors of anxieties and fears, and efforts to bring us out would have the opposite effects. The Risen Lord comes to meet us where we are, comes without force; he comes without arguments or explanations; he comes to liberate us into peace and joy that God alone can give.
The Easter Sunday had been intense. First, some women had the experience of two characters clothed in bright robes announcing the resurrection of Jesus. In the afternoon, two other disciples on their way to Emmaus were accompanied by a pilgrim who warmed their hearts with his words and then revealed himself as the risen Christ. Gradually, the community of disciples began to realize that Jesus had really risen.
But, now with the body of Jesus missing from the tomb, the threat of the Jews launching an attack on the disciples was very real. So they shut themselves up. And Jesus stood in the midst of their fears, and greeted them: “Peace be with you!” The first reaction is one of wonder, doubt and fear. Then he says: “Look at my hands and my feet: it is me alive!”
There is something curious to note here: Jesus did not ask the disciples to look at his face, but at his feet and hands. Those were the hands that healed the sick, raised the dead, blessed children, broke the bread … and those blessed feet that walked so many places, the feet that accompanied the needy and walked into the houses of sinners …
What Jesus showed the disciples were not his wounds, but the scars of love. Those signs would be carried into eternity: the Risen One is also the Crucified. Those feet and hands show that when you live for love, your sufferings, no matter how bad, become a sign of tenderness.
These hands and feet of Jesus can also be seen in all those who work for the good of humanity. True disciples of Jesus must also be recognized by their hands and feet. Blessed are the feet and hands that are marked by acts of love, because they reveal God! When the night of our lives comes, God will ask us to show him our hands and our feet… Do they have the scars of love for God and his people?

Video available on Youtube: Hands and Feet