'Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.' Sunday Reflections, 3rd Sunday of Easter

Supper at Emmaus, c.1629

Rembrandt [Web Gallery of Art]

Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:35; Gospel).

 

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel  Luke 24:35-48  (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

Then [the two disciples] told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marvelling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Then 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 the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Pope Benedict XVI celebrating Mass 

[Wikipedia; photo]

More than 20 years ago while visiting Canada I was invited to speak to a prayer group in Hamilton, Ontario. Afterwards over coffee I was chatting with an elderly woman, an immigrant from Germany, who had been a Lutheran for most of her life. In Canada she had felt drawn for a long time to becoming a Catholic but could not take the final step. 

One particular weekday afternoon while thinking about this she felt rather like the apostles in today' gospel when Jesus asked them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? To calm herself she went for a walk and, as she passed a Catholic church, decided to go in. While she was there a small group of teenage boys came in, went up to the front of the church, genuflected and knelt in silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. After a few minutes they genuflected again and went out. That for the German woman was the moment when, like the two disciples returning from Emmaus, she could say that [Jesus] was known to [her] in the breaking of the bread. Jesus spoke to her through the teenage boys who had silently expressed their faith in the Real Presence of the Risen Lord Jesus, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Blessed Sacrament. 

This is one aspect of today's readings. Another is repentance. In the First Reading St Peter while proclaiming that Jesus was risen from the dead says to the people: And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:17-19). St Peter who had betrayed Jesus shows his understanding of our tendency to sin when he says, I know that you acted in ignorance in handing Jesus over to be killed. But his message is stark and clear: Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.

Lift up the light of your face on us, O Lord (Psalm 4:6)

Response to the Responsorial Psalm

The Responsorial Psalm shows us where the source of life is: 'What can bring us happiness?' many say, Lift up the light of your face on us, O Lord (Psalm 4:6). The light of God's face can come to us in unexpected ways, as it did through the smile of my young friend in the Philippines above.

The Second Reading, 1 John 2:1-5a, calls us to repent while at the same time offering us God's forgiveness: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. St John uses very blunt language while showing us where God is calling us: Whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him. This reminds me of what St Thérèse of Lisieux wrote on the second page of her autobiography, Story of a Soul: Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wants to be. This is a dynamic expression calling us to grow in holiness. I am guilty of sometimes having said to people that God loves us 'as we are'. Parents love their newly-born son as he is but don't want him to stay like that. They want to lovingly nurture him in every sense so that he may grow to be a responsible adult. And that will involve on occasion reprimanding him when he misbehaves.

There is a tendency to turn Jesus into a teddy bear. In last Sunday's Gospel St Thomas knew that if the Lord was truly risen he would carry the scars of his crucifixion. St Luke tells us in today's Gospel that Jesus said to the apostles, See my hands and my feet. He was showing his scars. Then Jesus goes on to tell them what their mission is to be: Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

To preach Christ as other than the Crucified Christ now risen from the dead is to not preach Christ at all. It is to deny that we are sinners in need of conversion. It is to deny that we need a Saviour. It is to deny that we need a God who became Man and died for us. It is to deny that we need Jesus Christ, the One  known to [the two disciples] in the breaking of the bread. It is to deny the reality of the faith of the teenage boys in Hamilton, Ontario. in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It is to deny the faith of the German immigrant who, because of the faith she saw in the teenage boys,  was able to recognise Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Bread that is the Blessed Sacrament and to embrace the Catholic Faith, letting go of her fears.

All in the April Evening

Words by Katherine Tynan Hinkson, music by Sir Hugh S. Robertson

Sung by London Emmanuel Choir

When I was in Fourth Class (Grade Four) in O'Connell Schools, Dublin, 1953-54, we learned Katherine Tynan Hinkson's poem under our wonderful teacher Mr John Galligan, a man of deep faith who prepared us for confirmation that year. And if my memory is accurate, we sang it the same year in the choir of Mrs Agnes Boylan whom I recall as an 'everyone's favourite grandmother' kind of person. The poem/song reminds us of the price of Easter, the price of our Salvation, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God..

High Altar with Bernini's baldacchino, St Peter's, Vatican City 

[Wikipedia; photo]

Traditional Latin Mass

Second Sunday after Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)

The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 04-14-2024 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Peter 2:21-23. Gospel: John 10:11-16. 

The Good Shepherd

Byzantine Mosaic Artist [Web Gallery of Art]

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11; Gospel).