The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of our experience of encountering Jesus in our lives and our response to His mission for us.
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| Contemplate Presence |
In the reading from the Book of Acts, Peter speaks in Solomon’s Portico.
* [3:17] Ignorance: a Lucan motif, explaining away the actions not only of the people but also of their leaders in crucifying Jesus. On this basis the presbyters in Acts could continue to appeal to the Jews in Jerusalem to believe in Jesus, even while affirming their involvement in his death because they were unaware of his messianic dignity. See also Acts 13:27 and Lk 23:34.1
Psalm 8 celebrates Divine Majesty and human dignity.
* [Psalm 8] While marvelling at the limitless grandeur of God (Ps 8:2–3), the psalmist is struck first by the smallness of human beings in creation (Ps 8:4–5), and then by the royal dignity and power that God has graciously bestowed upon them (Ps 8:6–9).2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus appears to His disciples.
* [24:39–42] The apologetic purpose of this story is evident in the concern with the physical details and the report that Jesus ate food.3
Mike Cherney comments that in the first reading we see Peter and John transformed. They are now the ones explaining the point of these events. They reach out to the crowds who have undergone the huge mood swings with respect to Jesus. What has changed with Peter and John?
What will transform the community? The Holy Spirit was made manifest. In the previous chapter of Acts, apostles had their Pentecost experience. Perhaps this is a hint that in these times I need to be reopening myself to the Spirit...This was a year when Easter just did not seem like Easter. Today the feeling of resurrection seems very distant to me. Many of us are confined to our homes in ways not totally dissimilar to the apostles locking themselves away in that upper room. Here is where the first reading offers some hope (at least to me). The time between Easter and Pentecost was a time of uncertainty for the apostles. I see my world as uncertain. My hope and my prayer are that after this Lenten and Easter experience I may be open to the transformation of Pentecost.4
Don Schwager quotes “The Easter Alleluia,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"We are praising God now, assembled as we are here in church; but when we go on our various ways again, it seems as if we cease to praise God. But provided we do not cease to live a good life, we shall always be praising God. You cease to praise God only when you swerve from justice and from what is pleasing to God. If you never turn aside from the good life, your tongue may be silent but your actions will cry aloud, and God will perceive your intentions; for as our ears hear each others voices, so do God's ears hear our thoughts. " (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 24:35-48 comments that like the disciples, we don’t have to be ashamed of our doubts and hesitation to believe. Jesus will never condemn us for questioning. He understands how conflicted our hearts can be, and he wants to help us resolve every question or conflict that arises. He invites us to bring our questions to him so that he can show us the answers and give us his peace.
So be encouraged! Jesus doesn’t want you to keep your “silly questions” to yourself as you try to go it alone. Why not bring some area of unbelief in your heart to Jesus today? Trust that he already knows your heart and your needs. Believe that he always welcomes those who come to him in honesty and humility. Remember, he is gentle, merciful, and patient beyond measure.
“Thank you, Lord, for not condemning me for my doubts. Send your Spirit of peace where there is confusion. May your perfect love for me cast out every fear in my heart.”6
Friar Jude Winkler describes the kerygma proclaimed by Peter and John as very Jewish and very powerful. Luke connects Christ to the ancient religion of Judaism that had been approved by the Romans. Friar Jude discusses the parallel between the progress of Luke’s post resurrection appearances of Christ and how we usually grow in our experience of Jesus.
Fr Richard’s friend and colleague, Cynthia Bourgeault, makes a powerful distinction between what she calls ordinary hope, “tied to outcome . . . . an optimistic feeling . . . because we sense that things will get better in the future” and mystical hope “that is a complete reversal of our usual way of looking at things. Beneath the ‘upbeat’ kind of hope that parts the seas and pulls rabbits out of hats, this other hope weaves its way as a quiet, even ironic counterpoint.”
We might make the following observations about this other kind of hope, which we will call mystical hope. In contrast to our usual notions of hope:
Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to external circumstances and conditions.It has something to do with presence—not a future good outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.It bears fruit within us at the psychological level in the sensations of strength, joy, and satisfaction: an “unbearable lightness of being.” But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within. .7
The promise of “Peace with us” is the foundation of our hope in Jesus in troubled times.
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