Reading 1
Acts 3:11-26
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.”
Gospel
Lk 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.”
Meditation: Luke 24:35-48
While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst. (Luke 24:36)
The disciples’ reaction to this appearance of Jesus may puzzle us. They had been devastated by his death on the cross and thought their mission was over. You would expect them to be overcome with joy to see him again. But their first reaction was terror, not gratitude or relief or joy. In fact, they thought he was a ghost!
This wasn’t the only time in Luke’s Gospel when someone was frightened by a heavenly vision. The shepherds of Bethlehem who saw the angels on Christmas night were also terrified (Luke 2:9). The Gerasenes, who saw Jesus deliver a demoniac, were so scared they asked Jesus to leave their territory (8:37). Peter, James, and John became frightened at Jesus’ transfiguration (9:34). It seems that many who encountered Jesus’ divinity weren’t necessarily unbelieving. They were just afraid!
We are not so different from the people of Luke’s time. To witness a genuine demonstration of God’s power can be very unsettling. Perhaps we’ve known someone who has been healed of a terrible sickness. Maybe the Lord has spoken powerfully to us or someone we know through a dream. When unexpected things like these happen, we may even see them as a disruption and not necessarily as something that we would welcome. They can challenge us with an uncomfortable question: How close do we want God to get?
The good news is that the disciples’ initial shock at seeing Jesus turned into joy and amazement (Luke 24:41). And it was that joy and amazement that stayed with them, dispelling any hesitancy they had at first. Yes, it is challenging to let divine realities touch our limited, all-too-human lives. But once we take a deep breath and look beyond our initial fear, our hearts are changed, and we are lifted up to heaven.
During this Easter season, the Mass readings will present us with numerous stories about God revealing himself to people in new ways. As you read them, ask the Spirit to open your eyes as well. Don’t let fear or hesitancy keep you from the joy that awaits!
“Lord, I want to know the power of your resurrection. Let it change me from the inside out. You make all things new, and I believe you have made me a new creation!”
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