Mother Church celebrates Sunday, April 23, 2023 as the third Sunday of Easter – Year A. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy; praise the glory of this name; proclaim his glorious praise, alleluia.”
All the earth is still crying out to God with joy, praising the glory of his name and proclaiming his glorious praise as we continue to celebrate the triumphal resurrection from the dead of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In the First Reading, from Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke presents Peter’s inaugural sermon of the Church, which stems from the fire of Pentecost. In it, Peter justifies the descent of the Holy Spirit and the reason God permitted his Son to die in order to raise him from the dead. In the Second Reading, from the First Letter of Peter, the author describes Christian destiny and re-echoes Christ’s call to us to imitate the holiness of his Father. The Gospel recounts one of the most beautiful stories that follow Christ’s resurrection – Christ’s meeting with two of his dejected disciples on the road to Emmaus, how he teaches them the Scripture and how they recognise him at the breaking of the bread. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace of hospitality because the next stranger we welcome into our home may just turn out to be Christ who has come to set our hearts ablaze with love and break bread with us.
First Reading: Acts 2: 14, 22-28
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.”
Comment
As the Church takes her first steps, Saint Peter already occupies the position of leader and main spokesman of the group of Apostles and Christ’s disciples. In this inaugural address, he explains that the messianic times foretold by the prophet Joel have now arrived. He proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Jews crucified, is the Messiah promised by God and who has now effected God’s saving plan for mankind.
I like Saint John Chrysostom’s commentary on the change he sees in Saint Peter.“Listen to him preach and argues boldly, who shortly before had trembled at the word of a servant girl! This boldness is a significant proof of the resurrection of the Master: Peter preaches to men, who mock and laugh at his enthusiasm. Some call the Apostles people filled with new wine but this does not deter them at all; sarcasm does not undermine their courage, for the coming of the Holy Spirit has made new men of them, men who can put up with every kind of human test. When the Holy Spirit enters into hearts”, continues Saint John Chrysostom, “he does so to elevate their affections and to change earthly souls, souls of clay, into chosen souls, people of real courage. Look at the harmony that exists among the Apostles. See how they allow Peter to speak on behalf of them all. Peter raises his voice and speaks to the people with full assurance. That is the kind of courage a man has when he is the instrument of the Holy Spirit. Just as burning coal does not lose its heat when it falls on a haystack but instead is enabled to release its heat, so Peter, now that he is in contact with the life-giving Spirit, spreads his inner life to those around him.” Saint John Chrysostom.
Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may descend on us also, as he did on the Apostles, so that our faith may receive the strength and courage that will enable us to also proclaim our faith in the Risen Lord with equal boldness, whether we are listened to or not. “God our Father, by raising Christ your Son from the dead you conquered the power of death and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration today raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Alleluia.”
Second Reading: 1 Peter 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
Comment
In this reading, Saint Peter addresses himself to Jewish Christians dispersed in Gentile lands on account of persecution. He is writing to encourage them to be steadfast in the faith and to advise them on how to conduct themselves during the time of their exile. His message, however, is not for Jewish Christians only; it is for all Christians, for you and me, since, as Peter says, all Christians are in exile insofar as they still live in this world.
Today’s text opens with Peter reminding us of one cardinal point of our Christian faith and the implication this should have in our daily lives: “If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile (1 Peter 1:17).
Faith and life are therefore two sides of the same coin. Faith that does not affect life is useless, and life that does not follow faith is futile. Peter reminds the exiles that since they invoke God as the Father of all humankind, who judges all people not according to their tribe, nationality, wealth, learning or social status, not even according to their religious convictions, but rather according to their deeds, then they should put their feeling of religious superiority aside and live in reverent fear and humility together with the Gentiles among whom they have settled.
The same message applies to us, Christians, because, spiritually speaking, our life on earth is an exile. The God we worship is a merciful Father, but also an impartial judge. We should therefore live our lives in reverent fear of God.
As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection from the dead of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Church invites us this day, through the words of Peter, to go beyond mere belief, to let our belief affect our lives. Specifically, we are invited to realise that we are pilgrims on earth, that our real home is in heaven with God our Father, and that is where we should lay our treasures and not on earth. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us as we trudge along.
Let us pray” “God our Father, look upon us with love. You redeem us and make us your children in Christ. Give us true freedom and bring us to the inheritance you promised. We ask this through Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen. Alleluia.”
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts burn while you speak to us. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Luke 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.
Comment
In this day’s Gospel, we meet two disciples, who are disappointed, discouraged and full of unanswered questions as they leave the company of the apostles and believers in Jerusalem and head for Emmaus. They are struggling to make sense of the recent event, that is, the death of Jesus. They have been scandalized over the past few days by the arrest, torture and crucifixion of the one they had thought would free them from Roman oppression. However, that same day, late in the evening, they rush back to rejoin the company of the apostles and believers they had abandoned earlier in the day, this time full of joy and zeal. What happened?
Along the way, they accept without questioning the company of a stranger. The more they open up to him the more their hearts burn within them and they soon realise why – the stranger, who does not quite look like Jesus, turns out to be Jesus after all. Their journey is not only a physical road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, it is also a spiritual one. By accepting a stranger without fear, they open themselves up to sacred enlightenment.
When they finish their own story, Jesus then steps in to tell them his. He invites them to look at the recent events in the light of sacred Scriptures. He gives a different interpretation to what has just happened, seeing the death of Jesus as something which is essential for his glory. Christ’s death, therefore, is the achievement of his mission, not its collapse.
As he helps them understand the past event, they invite him to stay with them. Luke narrates a Eucharistic celebration in which Jesus takes the bread, blesses it and distributes it to his disciples before revealing himself to them. He transforms the physical food into spiritual nourishment, the bread of life.
The sudden discovery that the one in whom they had trusted, Jesus Christ, is indeed alive and not dead, gives new meaning to their lives, their faith and their vocation. Tossing aside all fear and fatigue, they stand up and go back to rejoin the company of the apostles and followers of Jesus and share with them the good news that they have met the risen Lord and that they met him in the person of a stranger, only recognizing him at the breaking of the bread.
In their new experience of Jesus as Lord, the disciples revisit their past with the new light and the new love they have just experienced. Whenever and wherever we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we too listen to the word of God and break bread together. Our Emmaus becomes wherever we encounter God. Christ reveals himself to us whenever we come together in his name. He fills our hearts with joy, and is our life-giving spirit.
Let us pray today for the grace to overcome the crippling fear of strangers, for the courage to reach out with open hearts and open hands to those who are different from us, knowing that even though the strangers on our way may not look life Jesus, they may indeed turn out to be him, just as the lonely stranger on the way to Emmaus revealed himself as Christ in the breaking and sharing of bread. Alleluia!
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