Reading 1
Acts 2:14, 22-33
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.
“My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”
16:1-2,5,7-11
Responsorial Psalm R. (11a)
Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2
1 Pt 1:17-21
Beloved:
If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
Gospel
Lk 24:13-35
That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
Meditation: Acts 2:14,22-33
“God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.” (Acts 2:32)
The resurrection of Jesus was at the heart of Peter’s message on Pentecost, and it became his mission statement for the rest of his life.
Two thousand years later, God still wants the resurrection to be at the heart of our faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a
faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross: Christ is risen from the dead!” (638).
Just as the apostles were first-century witnesses to the resurrection, God calls us to be twenty-first-century witnesses to the very same event. He wants us to be bold and steadfast as we testify to the transformation that Jesus’ resurrection has brought about in our own lives. Of course we should try to witness through our good deeds, but he also calls us to speak clearly, excitedly, and joyfully about the basis for our hope and our faith. And what is that basis? Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again!
Take time today to reflect on the concrete ways that the reality of Jesus’ resurrection has changed your life. How has it given you hope? Strength? Comfort? Peace? Try to boil it down into a couple of sentences. Make it into a proclamation of faith that you can announce to yourself and to the Lord every morning when you wake up. Make it the basis for your decisions as you go throughout the day. Ask the Holy Spirit how you can tell people about your faith and joy in the risen Lord.
Commit yourself to sharing the good news with at least one person this week. Then go out and do it!
“Praise to you, Jesus, my risen Savior! ‘You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever’ (Psalm 16:11).”
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Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion
(Acts 2:1-14,22-33; Psalm 16:1-2,5,7-11; 1 Peter 1:17-21;Luke 24:13-35)
1. In the first reading from Acts, Peter gives a powerful proclamation of the Gospel message in such a way that the listeners are “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). Where did Peter, in spite of being an uneducated fisherman, get such a gift? (Hint: Peter gives the answer in Acts 2:33.) If we believe that we as baptized Catholics have the ability to proclaim the Gospel through the power of the Spirit that dwells in us, what keeps us from sharing it with others? How can you overcome some of these obstacles?
2. Notice in the responsorial psalm, how the psalmist keeps his mind and heart fixed on the Lord (“I set the Lord ever before me”) and the fruit of it (”with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed”). What steps can you take to turn to the Lord more often during the day, even in the midst of your busyness?
3. In the second reading from 1 Peter, we are reminded to “conduct yourself with reverence” because “you were ransomed from your futile conduct … with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:17-19). Do you believe that reflecting more on what Jesus accomplished by shedding his blood on the cross for you can impact how you live out your day? Why or why not? Any examples?
4. The Gospel reading describes the Emmaus Road encounter with Jesus by two of his disciples. Why do you think they did not recognize Jesus until “the breaking of bread” (an early Church term for the Eucharist)?
5. Are you willing to spend time just prior to the start of Mass reading and reflecting on the Mass readings? If not, why not? Perhaps if you do, like the Emmaus Road disciples, your heart will burn as the Scriptures are read and explained at Mass.
6. In the meditation, we hear these words: “Take time today to reflect on the concrete ways that the reality of Jesus’ resurrection has changed your life.” These words are followed in the meditation by these questions: “How has it given you hope? Strength? Comfort? Peace?” How would you answer these questions? Are you willing to share your answers with others as the opportunities arise? Why or why not?
7. Take some time now and pray that you would experience more deeply the transforming power of the resurrection of Jesus. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.
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