How He is Seen

The texts today in the Roman Catholic Lectionary give us an understanding of how the Covenant is being kept between God and His people as the psalmist proclaims “He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac”( Psalm 105:8) The episode from Acts where Peter heals the crippled man outside the Beautiful gate of the Temple is the life of Jesus being present in the action of Peter. Witnesses to Peter’s healing and ministry are observing Christ continuing to be Divine Presence with His people. The Gospel of Luke relates the episode when disciples of Jesus are travelling home to Emmaus, after the events of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. They experience a resonance of their indwelling Spirit with the “stranger”. This in itself is unusual in cultures, like our own, where the “stranger” is often treated with suspicion, although we all have likely experienced how our Spirit is strangely attracted to others whom we do not know. The travellers are inspired by the relationship with the stranger and they invite him to stay with them. In Jesus ministry, He often invited people to come and see. He invited Himself to their homes to bring Presence to their lives. The disciples in Emmaus are doing Jesus work through their hospitality. They are on the right track to continuation and deepening of their relationship with Jesus, after His Resurrection. How will their relationship with Him retain the physical contact so essential to people? They will continue to find His Presence in the “breaking of the bread”.