“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.'”
Mass Readings 4.9.15 – FIRST READING: Acts 3:11-26 – PSALM 8:2AB AND 5, 6-7, 8-9 – GOSPEL: Luke 24:35-48 – FIND A MASS: MassTimes.org – TheCatholicDirectory.com
GOSPEL
We continue to encounter the Risen Christ.
The two Disciples who met Jesus on the Road to Emmaus have rushed back to testify to the other Disciples, and Jesus Himself appears yet again, at that moment.
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.’
Those present are afraid, yet Jesus appeals to them as a Person, exhorting them to observe His Wounds and even to touch Him, to see that He is not a ghost, yet truly Risen in Flesh and Blood.
… 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.’
The Disciples’ fear is transformed; their troubled hearts become filled with joy and amazement.
Jesus also asks for something to eat. He eats a piece of baked fish, further demonstrating that He is Real Flesh and Blood, not a ghost.
Opening their minds to understand Holy Scripture, Jesus reminds them that His Suffering, Death and Resurrection are a Fulfillment of Holy Scripture.
‘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.’ … He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ‘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.’
Christ comes to part of the Heart of His Sacrifice for us and our Redemption — that repentance and forgiveness of sins are to be preached in His Name to all.
We also see the personal nature of His Relationship with the Disciples and us — they are not simply to convey ideas; Disciples also are witnesses.
Reality is not hypothetical. The Resurrection of Christ, and our invitation to Eternal Life, are not academic proposals or legalistic arguments; they are facts to be experienced, borne witness to, and lived out. Indeed, one current Cardinal once explained in a Homily that the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ form the central, most important historical moment in all the history of humanity.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
O Lord, our God, how wonderful Your Name in all the earth!
FIRST READING
Peter and John have just healed the crippled man in the temple area, and immediately use the attention they receive to Proclaim the Risen Christ and the fact that Jesus is Messiah, the Son of God.
As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John,
all the people hurried in amazement toward them …
Peter … addressed the people,
‘You children of Israel …
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,
* * *
The Author of Life you put to death,
but God Raised Him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
Bearing witness to the Resurrection, Peter goes on to credit God for the miraculous healing of the crippled man.
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. …
Peter points out that the Suffering of Christ fulfilled prophecy.
He also gives the listeners an opportunity to claim ignorance as a contributing factor in their murder of Christ, adding impetus to an invitation to repentance and Salvation.
Now I know, brothers and sisters,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
* * *
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.
* * *
Jesus will return at the times of Universal Restoration, at His Second Coming, when there will be a new Heaven and a new earth, and a final resurrection of those who are saved.
Mass Excerpt: Readings & Homily – EWTN
More Resources
- Find a Mass: MassTimes.org
- Find a Mass: TheCatholicDirectory.com
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – Basilica in Washington, D.C.
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – Passionists (New York)
- VIDEO: Diocese of Sioux Falls, including Sunday Masses
- VIDEO: Sunday Mass – University of Notre Dame
- VIDEO: Daily Mass – Toronto
- VIDEO: Daily Mass – Boston/Catholic TV