Healing Presence

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Wednesday of the Easter Octave, challenge us to review our walk in life with openness to the events which may have brought us close to the Presence of Christ as we assess our impatience with the Way God is revealing His Love to us.

Healing People

The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the Healing of a lame beggar as Peter approaches the Temple.

* [3:1–4:31] This section presents a series of related events: the dramatic cure of a lame beggar (Acts 3:1–10) produces a large audience for the kerygmatic discourse of Peter (Acts 3:11–26).…

* [3:1] For the three o’clock hour of prayer: literally, “at the ninth hour of prayer.” With the day beginning at 6 A.M., the ninth hour would be 3 P.M.

* [3:6–10] The miracle has a dramatic cast; it symbolizes the saving power of Christ and leads the beggar to enter the temple, where he hears Peter’s proclamation of salvation through Jesus. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 105 invites us to praise and seek the presence of God.

* [Psalm 105] A hymn to God who promised the land of Canaan to the holy people, cf. Ps 78; 106; 136. Israel is invited to praise and seek the presence of God (Ps 105:1–6), who is faithful to the promise of land to the ancestors (Ps 105:7–11). (Psalms, PSALM 105 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel, Luke presents the Appearance of Resurrected Jesus on the Road to Emmaus.

* [24:13–35] This episode focuses on the interpretation of scripture by the risen Jesus and the recognition of him in the breaking of the bread. The references to the quotations of scripture and explanation of it (Lk 24:25–27), the kerygmatic proclamation (Lk 24:34), and the liturgical gesture (Lk 24:30) suggest that the episode is primarily catechetical and liturgical rather than apologetic.

* [24:13] Seven miles: literally, “sixty stades.” A stade was 607 feet. Some manuscripts read “160 stades” or more than eighteen miles. The exact location of Emmaus is disputed.

* [24:16] A consistent feature of the resurrection stories is that the risen Jesus was different and initially unrecognizable (Lk 24:37; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4).

* [24:26] That the Messiah should suffer…: Luke is the only New Testament writer to speak explicitly of a suffering Messiah (Lk 24:26, 46; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 26:23). The idea of a suffering Messiah is not found in the Old Testament or in other Jewish literature prior to the New Testament period, although the idea is hinted at in Mk 8:31–33. See notes on Mt 26:63 and 26:67–68. (Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Larry Gillick, SJ, tells of a walk with a close person that was kind of a sweet/sour relating of all the bumps and bruises encountered, endured in our recent days. Sweet, because we enjoy self-righteous sufferings and judgments. Sour, because we cannot do anything in retribution in reality except pout.

Well, of course, Jesus came alongside and butted in on our conversation and began untangling the threads of our self-centered prayer or whatever it was.

He went with me and started to talk about worthy/unworthy. He reminded me that He was my worthiness. When I allowed Him to embrace my real, true poverty which accompanies my acceptance of my humanity, my poverty. Unworthiness is the destructive invitation of the Corruptor. “I am in a constant battle between His Creative Spirit and my own subtle seduction of my creating my richness, my own image, my own worthiness, my little self-kingdom.”

With this little shot across my floundering deck, He went on His way, leaving me worthy to be myself more gratefully and less occupied with, hmm, I forgot. Omaha never looked so welcoming as my home. (Gillick, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “The Easter Alleluia,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Now therefore, brethren, we urge you to praise God. That is what we are all telling each other when we say Alleluia. You say to your neighbor, "Praise the Lord!" and he says the same to you. We are all urging one another to praise the Lord, and all thereby doing what each of us urges the other to do. But see that your praise comes from your whole being; in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions." (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 3 :1-10 comments how appropriate that we hear this passage during the Octave of Easter! Jesus’ resurrection is the perfect example of how God not only honors the physical world but is committed to working in it and through it. God didn’t simply send an angel to tell us that his Son had overcome death. He raised Jesus’ body from the dead to demonstrate that his kingdom is a place where brokenness of any kind can be transformed into wholeness. Similarly, by grasping the beggar’s hand while healing him, Peter reveals that Jesus has transformed our world—and that he will continue to transform it.

So this Easter week, praise the Lord who heals and restores. And find ways to demonstrate his healing love. Reach out to those close to you and offer them the grace of Jesus’ healing touch. You never know what might happen! 

“Jesus, make me an instrument of your healing!” (Meditation on Acts 3 :1-10, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments the reading from Acts when Peter and John enter the Temple area indicates they are still attending the Temple worship as Jews. This healing marks the continuation of Jesus' ministry that His disciples have taken over. Luke presents this  in Acts as Jesus ministry through the Apostles. In the Gospel, Luke presents the second resurrection narrative, a walk where Jesus is not recognized as He joins two disciples consumed with their thought. This is the second of three times, in the Gospel of Luke, where the Resurrected Jesus is not immediately recognized. The third appearance occurs when the apostles are fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus teaches them, on the walk, about Scripture and how His mission is foretold. Friar Jude notes Jesus is recognized and remembered at the breaking of the bread and, as they recall, His Presence on the walk, in the sharing of the Word.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces womanist theologian Yolanda Pierce who reminds us that the resurrection and its promise of new life doesn’t erase the pain of what has been lost. Pierce notes that to Thomas, Jesus speaks the words, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side” (John 20:27)….

There is an intimacy to Jesus’s command to Thomas, a closeness that we cannot overlook. Christ invites him to touch the unhealed wounds—to feel the places where nails and spear had pierced his body. It is a proclamation that the physical body still matters…. Wounds, too, are a part of the divine story. By sharing his wounds, Jesus reveals that our wounds are places for God’s healing presence and love.

This is a theology for the wounded, for those who are still healing, and even for those who aren’t quite ready for healing. The risen Savior insistently welcomes the doubting, the uncertain, and the grieving to touch and see that he is real and present and here with us. The risen Savior, who had been abandoned, denied, betrayed, and crucified, doesn’t hide his wounds or rush their healing. As wounded people encased in the frailties of human flesh, can we, too, summon enough grace and kindness to acknowledge that our own very human wounds need time to heal?…

This is an embodied theology. In these stories, the physical body and the tangible world are consistently presented as ways of intimately knowing God. Some saw and believed; others have not seen and still believed. At the center of both experiences is God-in-flesh, loving us in our own wounded places. (Rohr, n.d.)

We invite the Spirit to come on our journey and reveal to us the connection we have to Jesus walking with us transforming the wounds and hurts that life inflects.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/3?1 

Gillick, L. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-april-8-2026 

Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?13 

Meditation on Acts 3 :1-10. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/04/07/1539149/ 

Psalms, PSALM 105 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/105?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Hope for the Wounded. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/hope-for-the-wounded/  

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Did Not Our Hearts Burn While He Opened to Us the Scriptures. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 8, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Treachery and Responsibility

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with situations we witness today where misinformation and propaganda are daily challenges to efforts to support efforts to bring responsibility, truth, and compassion to our relationships with the people in our environment.

Under a Tree of Responsibility

The Reading from the Book of Daniel alerts us to a tendency of the powerful to abuse their positions.

* [13:1–14:42] The short stories in these two chapters exist now only in Greek and other translations, but probably were first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic. They were never part of the Hebrew-Aramaic Book of Daniel, or of the Hebrew Bible. They are excluded from the Protestant canon of Scripture, but the Catholic Church has always included them among the inspired writings; they existed in the Septuagint, which was used as its Bible by the early church.

* [13:55–59] The contrast between the mastic tree, which is small, and the majestic oak emphasizes the contradiction between the statements of the two elders. In the Greek text there is a play on words between the names of these two trees and the mortal punishment decreed by Daniel for the elders. The mastic tree (schinon) sounds like the verb “to split” (schisai). The oak tree (prinon) suggests a play on poisai (to saw). (Daniel, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 23 presents God as a good shepherd.

* [Psalm 23] God’s loving care for the psalmist is portrayed under the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Ps 23:1–4) and a host’s generosity toward a guest (Ps 23:5–6). The imagery of both sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Is 40:11; 49:10; Jer 31:10).

* [23:1] My shepherd: God as good shepherd is common in both the Old Testament and the New Testament (Ez 34:11–16; Jn 10:11–18).

* [23:3] Right paths: connotes “right way” and “way of righteousness.”

* [23:5] You set a table before me: this expression occurs in an exodus context in Ps 78:19. In front of my enemies: my enemies see that I am God’s friend and guest. Oil: a perfumed ointment made from olive oil, used especially at banquets (Ps 104:15; Mt 26:7; Lk 7:37, 46; Jn 12:2).

* [23:6] Goodness and mercy: the blessings of God’s covenant with Israel. (Psalms, PSALM 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus responds to a Woman Caught in Adultery.

* [7:53–8:11] The story of the woman caught in adultery is a later insertion here, missing from all early Greek manuscripts. A Western text-type insertion, attested mainly in Old Latin translations, it is found in different places in different manuscripts: here, or after Jn 7:36 or at the end of this gospel, or after Lk 21:38, or at the end of that gospel. There are many non-Johannine features in the language, and there are also many doubtful readings within the passage. The style and motifs are similar to those of Luke, and it fits better with the general situation at the end of Lk 21: but it was probably inserted here because of the allusion to Jer 17:13 (cf. note on Jn 8:6) and the statement, “I do not judge anyone,” in Jn 8:15. The Catholic Church accepts this passage as canonical scripture. (John, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Rashmi Fernando, SJ, comments that we throw stones with our words, our assumptions, our silence in the face of injustice. In a world filled with public accusations, political polarization, wars, and deep divisions—where people are judged instantly in the courts of social media and public opinion, and the temptation to condemn is strong and convenient— Jesus bends down and writes on the ground, almost giving humanity a moment to pause, breathe, and look inward.

Lent invites us precisely into this space of examination. It reminds us not only of “giving things up” but also of “loving the way Jesus does” because justice without mercy becomes cruelty, and truth without humility becomes arrogance.

Hence, let’s ask ourselves,

When have I stood among the crowd, quick to judge others without examining my own conscience?

In moments of injustice or false accusation in the world around me, do I remain silent, or do I dare to be a voice like Daniel?

During this Lenten journey, what “stones” of judgment, resentment, or pride is Christ inviting me to drop so that mercy may take their place? (Fernando, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Aided by Christ's grace,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"No one of us does anything good unless aided by Christ's grace. What we do badly comes from ourselves; what we do well, we do with the help of God. Therefore, let us give thanks to God who made it possible. And when we do well, let us not insult anyone who does not act in the same way. Let us not extol ourselves above such a person." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 93,15) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in Daniel today, a chapter only in Greek and is not accepted in the Jewish or Protestant Canon, Suzanna encounters two judges who decide to trap her in a plan to have sex with her. She is a woman of integrity and she calls the crowd who believe what the old men have said. Daniel is inspired by the Spirit in his heart and he tricks them to expose the truth and they receive the punishment of death they had intended for Suzanna. Jesus meets the woman caught in adultery and Jesus rejects the trap of the religious leaders and challenges whoever is without sin to cast the first stone. Many have speculated about what Jesus wrote? Perhaps it makes no difference. “Go and sin no more” is an act of mercy and wisdom. Friar Jude comments that in John there is only one sin, of rejection of Jesus, as evidence that this passage is not by the author of John’s Gospel. It may have been copied into John and it is not found in older manuscripts. It is a beautiful story, perhaps like Luke in theme, and in John is a lesson of mercy.

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 8:1-11 comments that in this brief but tender exchange, Jesus shows that he “did not come to condemn the world but to save the world” (John 12:47). He wasn’t interested in the voices of condemnation then, and he isn’t interested in them now.

The men wanted a heated confrontation with Jesus, but he wanted a saving encounter with the woman. Jesus wants the same for you today. He knows everything about you—good and bad—and he opens his arms to you in welcome. So let him forgive you. Let him silence the accusations. Let him set you free and give you confidence in his love so that you, too, can “not sin any more” (John 8:11).

“Thank you, Jesus, for setting me free and refusing to condemn me!” (Meditation on John 8:1-11, n.d.)

Brian McLaren considers the stories of empire and exile that appear in the Bible and continue to this day. He proposes that the English words liberate and liberation would be better translations for the Hebrew and Greek words commonly translated as save or salvation.

Many of the psalms are intense poems of pain from the Exile period. One of the best known is Psalm 137. You feel the pathos as the Judean exiles feel they have been dehumanized, turned into entertainment for their oppressors.

By the rivers of Babylon—

    there we sat down, and there we wept 

    when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there

    we hung up our harps.

For there our captors

    asked us for songs,

and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,

    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How could we sing the Lord’s song

    in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

    let my right hand wither!

Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,

    if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

    above my highest joy. (Psalm 137:1–6)

In this psalm, the refugees in exile refuse to sing. They refuse to sacrifice their own dignity and humanity for the entertainment of their oppressor. Their pain echoes through the centuries and asks us: Where are people experiencing exile today? Dare we humanize them and feel their pain? Dare we take their story seriously—even if doing so offends the elites of today’s empires of violence and domination? (McLaren, n.d.)

We seek the guidance of the Spirit in our practice of S.T.O.P. [ Stop. Take a Breath. Observe. Proceed. ] before taking impulsive action. 

References

Daniel, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/daniel/13?1 

Fernando, R. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved March 23, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-23-2026 

John, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March , 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/8?1 

McLaren, B. (n.d.). Exile: An Ongoing Reality. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 23, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/exile-an-ongoing-reality/ 

Meditation on John 8:1-11. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 23, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/23/1522816/ 

Psalms, PSALM 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 23, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/23?1 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Go, and Do Not Sin Again. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 23, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/