We are witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus

Luke 24:35–48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,
and how Jesus was made known to them
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.”

Music Meditations

“Christ in Me Arise” [YouTube]
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (Amen Choir of First Baptist Church and National Philharmonic) [YouTube]
“Open My Eyes, Lord” (by Jesse Manibusan) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

How do we recognize you in our daily lives, O Lord? Do we ever fail to be mindful of your care and your presence, your comfort and your reassurances? Help us to live our lives fully in your presence and help us to bring the joy of your presence to others as we remember those especially in need of your love at this time…

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2015, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Who are these “two disciples” featured in the opening line of today’s gospel? Well, this is the continuation of the Emmaus story. After Jesus’ death the two were leaving Jerusalem when Jesus met them on the road to Emmaus. He opened their minds to understand God’s plan revealed in the Scriptures. Then they recognized the Risen Christ when he broke bread for them. The two disciples’ witness to the community is interrupted by the appearance of the Risen Christ himself, who wastes no time in offering them peace. They, like the people Peter addressed in Acts, had acted “out of ignorance” by deserting Christ in his moment of need. With Jesus’ words their failures are also “wiped away.” In fact, their vision, like a newly-cleaned window, has been cleared and now they begin to see with the eyes of faith.

It’s clear from today’s narrative and the Emmaus account that the presence of the risen Lord with us is not easily recognizable. What the Christ did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he does also for the gathered disciples in Jerusalem. “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This part of the story suggests a primary spiritual practice for us disciples who are also on a journey, a road trip of sorts—turning our attention to the Scriptures. Each of us is in a unique place in our lives. Each of us needs to come to experience the risen Christ accompanying us on the journey so we can celebrate our joys and receive strength during the rough passages. We are not on our own, even when suffering and struggles tempt us to feel that way.

It isn’t just a matter of “reading the Bible” is it? Or, taking a Bible class—as helpful as that can be. Instead, we need to be “devotional” readers, inviting the Spirit of Jesus to “open our minds to understand the Scriptures” in the way he did for his incredulous followers. Note the sequence: after their minds were opened to the Scriptures and they came to understand the events that had just happened, Jesus commissioned his disciples and us to be “witnesses of these things.”

Life is never static for us. It is always in flux; we are “on the road.” Along the way the risen Christ appears to us and, like his disciples, we don’t immediately recognize him. But he would be more readily recognizable to us if we followed the guidance of these resurrection stories: continue to gather in community, especially in hard times; break open the Word for one another; share the bread and wine of the Eucharist and then, well prepared, witness to the risen Christ through our words and actions to help others come to believe that, “He is risen!”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

You are witnesses of these things

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

Why is the physical resurrection of Jesus important to us?
Why are there so many conflicting stories of this event?
Have you ever in your life tried to explain the inexplicable?
Do the wounds of Jesus, which still exist in His resurrected form, tell us something important about Jesus?
About God?
In this gospel, there is an assertion that the disciples came to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread. What does that mean for me?
What, exactly, does it mean to “know” someone?
Jesus was unrecognizable at first. Are there people I my life whom I miss seeing for who they truly are?
What am I anxious about or fearful of?
What absolutely terrifies me?
How did Jesus react when he met his friends for the first time after they had abandoned them?
How have I greeted someone who has hurt me?
What do Jesus’ outstretched hands mean to me?
What does it mean to me to have Jesus say “Peace be with you”?
Is it merely the absence of conflict, or something deeper?
Can I talk to Jesus honestly about my struggles and doubts?
Do I think He understands?
When Jesus asks: “Do you have anything to eat?”, does it ground me in the reality of the risen Jesus and not some ephemera?
What is the difference between meeting someone and encountering someone?
How do I encounter Jesus in my ordinary little life?
How do I encounter Jesus in others?
Is the encounter different with different people?
What elements are present in these encounters: love, fear, forgiveness, irritation, anger, hope, concern?
Which elements do I mirror the most?
What do I need to do in order to encounter Jesus in others more effectively?
Have I recently encountered Jesus in the poor, the sick the needy, the annoying, those deserving and those undeserving?
How did it go?
What would it mean to open my heart to Jesus? Is it scary? Why?
In what concrete ways can I be a witness to the message of Jesus?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican style/Asking Questions:

From “First Impressions 2012”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

A little self-examination might be appropriate at this point:
How attentive am I to the reading/proclamation of the Scriptures at Eucharist? If I am a Lector, how well do I prepare to help people hear the message? If I am in the pews do I ever prepare for liturgy by reading the Scripture passages in advance? Do I read and pray the Scriptures daily? Do I turn to them for guidance when I come to crossroads and the need to make important decisions that will influence the course of my future? I make a simple plan to do one thing that increases my involvement with the scriptures.

A Meditation in the Ignation Style/Imagination:

Adapted from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

I am there in that Jerusalem room as two of the disciples begin to recount their meeting with Jesus on the way to Emmaus. Did the story surprise you? How did you react when you turned around and a stranger was in the room with you all? How did others react? When did you recognize that it was Jesus? How did you recognize him? How was he different? What feelings did you experience as you saw his hands and feet? How did you react when he asked for something to eat? How did the others react? Can you sense the emotions of Jesus as he greets you, his friends, for the first time since you thought he was taken from you forever? What did he tell you about how the law and what was written in the prophets and the psalms was fulfilled through him? What did you understand that to mean? Did the phrases repentance and forgiveness of sins as central to the preaching that must be done in his name surprise you? What would you have said was the most important message you would wish to impart? Do you feel ready to go forth with Jesus’ mission? Do the others? Pray for the strength and the insight to carry on Jesus’ mission to the world you live in now, picking especially one or two instances where it would be most important to get the message of Jesus concretely to those you encounter…

Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

From At Home with the Word:

Jesus opens the disciples’ minds and presses them to understand the true import of the scriptures now fulfilled, telling them: “You are the witnesses of these things”. His message is urgent, as his time on earth is coming to a close. He wants them to know that the hope of salvation depends on their witness and asks them to carry his message of hope to the nations. Many families in America have no dwelling, no security and very little hope. Give these families hope.
Find a local Habitat for Humanity or similar charity where you can volunteer.
Enroll in a bible study course so you can understand more fully how Jesus is the culmination of God’s relationship with humanity, as described in scripture.
Consider how you can tell someone of your reason to hope.

Literary Reflection:

Read the following poem by Mary Oliver. How does she view Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist and in her life?

“The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist”

Something has happened
To the bread
And the wine.

They have been blessed.
What now?
The body leans forward

To receive the gift
From the priest’s hand,
Then the chalice.

They are something else now
From what they were
Before this began.

I want
To see Jesus,
Maybe in the clouds

Or on the shore,
Just walking,
Beautiful man

And clearly
Someone else
Besides.

On the hard days
I ask myself
If I ever will.

Also there are times
My body whispers to me
That I have.

Closing Prayer

From a reflection on the Gospel from Creighton University:

Lord, be with me as I try to pay attention to the many ways that you seek to encounter me in my life. Keep me close to you so that I may grow in the love you shower so abundantly. And help me to respond like the disciples by sharing those encounters with sisters and brothers of the human family.

Weekly Reflections

Third Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2024