Present in Word and Bread

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Thursday of Easter Octave, invite us to discover the Presence of Christ in Word and the Sacrament of the Bread of Life.

Fed by the Word

The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the “kerygma” in Peter’s Speech.

* [3:13] Has glorified: through the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God reversed the judgment against him on the occasion of his trial. Servant: the Greek word can also be rendered as “son” or even “child” here and also in Acts 3:26; 4:25 (applied to David); Acts 4:27; and Acts 4:30. Scholars are of the opinion, however, that the original concept reflected in the words identified Jesus with the suffering Servant of the Lord of Is 52:13–53:12.

* [3:14] The Holy and Righteous One: so designating Jesus emphasizes his special relationship to the Father (see Lk 1:35; 4:34) and emphasizes his sinlessness and religious dignity that are placed in sharp contrast with the guilt of those who rejected him in favor of Barabbas.

* [3:15] The author of life: other possible translations of the Greek title are “leader of life” or “pioneer of life.” The title clearly points to Jesus as the source and originator of salvation.

* [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.

* [3:18] Through the mouth of all the prophets: Christian prophetic insight into the Old Testament saw the crucifixion and death of Jesus as the main import of messianic prophecy. The Jews themselves did not anticipate a suffering Messiah; they usually understood the Servant Song in Is 52:13–53:12 to signify their own suffering as a people. In his typical fashion (cf. Lk 18:31; 24:25, 27, 44), Luke does not specify the particular Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus. See also note on Lk 24:26.

* [3:20] The Lord…and send you the Messiah already appointed for you, Jesus: an allusion to the parousia or second coming of Christ, judged to be imminent in the apostolic age. This reference to its nearness is the only explicit one in Acts. Some scholars believe that this verse preserves a very early christology, in which the title “Messiah” (Greek “Christ”) is applied to him as of his parousia, his second coming (contrast Acts 2:36). This view of a future messiahship of Jesus is not found elsewhere in the New Testament.

* [3:21] The times of universal restoration: like “the times of refreshment” (Acts 3:20), an apocalyptic designation of the messianic age, fitting in with the christology of Acts 3:20 that associates the messiahship of Jesus with his future coming.

* [3:22] A loose citation of Dt 18:15, which teaches that the Israelites are to learn the will of Yahweh from no one but their prophets. At the time of Jesus, some Jews expected a unique prophet to come in fulfillment of this text. Early Christianity applied this tradition and text to Jesus and used them especially in defense of the divergence of Christian teaching from traditional Judaism. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 8 contrasts the smallness of humans with the dignity bestowed with God.

* [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).

* [8:1] Upon the gittith: probably the title of the melody to which the Psalm was to be sung or a musical instrument.

* [8:3] With the mouths of babes and infants: the psalmist realizes that his attempts to praise such an awesome God are hopelessly inadequate and amount to little more than the sounds made by infants. Established a bulwark: an allusion to lost myth telling how God built a fortress for himself in the heavens in primordial times in his battle with the powers of chaos. This “bulwark” is the firmament. Enemy and avenger: probably cosmic enemies. The primeval powers of watery chaos are often personified in poetic texts (Ps 74:13–14; 89:11; Jb 9:13; 26:12–13; Is 51:9).

* [8:5] Man…a son of man: the emphasis is on the fragility and mortality of human beings to whom God has given great dignity.

* [8:6] Little less than a god: Hebrew ‘elohim, the ordinary word for “God” or “the gods” or members of the heavenly court. The Greek version translated ‘elohim by “angel, messenger”; several ancient and modern versions so translate. The meaning seems to be that God created human beings almost at the level of the beings in the heavenly world. Heb 2:9, translating “for a little while,” finds the eminent fulfillment of this verse in Jesus Christ, who was humbled before being glorified, cf. also 1 Cor 15:27 where St. Paul applies to Christ the closing words of Ps 8:7. (Psalms, PSALM 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke presents the Appearance of Jesus to the Disciples in Jerusalem.

* [24:36–43, 44–49] The Gospel of Luke, like each of the other gospels (Mt 28:16–20; Mk 16:14–15; Jn 20:19–23), focuses on an important appearance of Jesus to the Twelve in which they are commissioned for their future ministry. As in Lk 24:6, 12, so in Lk 24:36, 40 there are omissions in the Western text.

* [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.

* [24:46] See note on Lk 24:26. (Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)

Carol Zuegner thinks about the disciples and the whole range of feelings they must have been experiencing after the events that led to Jesus’s crucifixion and death. Disbelief. Grief. Sorrow. Fear. Adrift in all of those feelings.

Even though Jesus spoke about this, called on the words of the prophets, fulfilled the words of the prophets, the disciples had a hard time figuring all of that out. They were incredulous with joy. It’s understandable in that fog of grief and fear. Jesus offers comfort and allays their fears from the very start. His first words: Peace be with you.

Now that we have celebrated Easter, a different kind of work begins after the days of Lent. How do I share the love and joy and peace of Christ in my life? How do I live out the Easter joy? What prayers, good works, and peace can I bring to those near to me and to the world? How can I overcome my fear and hesitancy and be fueled instead by the joy of the resurrection? I know I can start in small ways to find God in all things, to love my neighbor as myself, to forgive others as I hope to be forgiven. (Zuegner, n.d.)

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) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 24:35-48 comments that Jesus saw their doubt, but he patiently calmed their fears. He showed them his hands and feet, invited them to touch him, and ate fish with them. Even more, “he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” and showed them how he had fulfilled God’s promises (24:45). As he had always done, he led them closer to himself, one step at a time.

And just as he did back then, he will lead you one step at a time.

How? He might highlight a verse from the daily readings and help it stick in your mind during the day. He might enlighten you as you use a commentary to learn about the historical context of a passage. Or he might give you an awareness that he is “with you always,” even when you’re lonely or afraid (Matthew 28:20). He might even give you a personal experience of his mercy, as though a light has turned on, enabling you to believe his promise: “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11). Each experience builds on the next, so that you become more and more confident that Jesus can teach you through his word.

Jesus wants to open your mind to hear his voice and understand the Scriptures. So spend time pondering and studying God’s word. Pause a few times during the day, and ask the Spirit to speak to you about it. You will be amazed, just as his disciples were!

“Jesus, help me to hear your voice speaking to me in Scripture today.” (Meditation on Luke 24:35-48, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the texts for today.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Theologian Paula Gooder who describes how Jesus’s resurrection would have been interpreted as a sign that the end times—of justice, mercy, and love—had begun. A lot of the New Testament writers made sense of this by seeing Jesus’ resurrection as a radical and transforming event which changed the world now…. For them, Jesus’ resurrection signaled far, far more than a dead person living; it marked the start of a whole new way of being. The end times had begun, but not in their entirety. [1]

We can be encouraged by glimpses of resurrection in the here and now:

The world is as it always was with its wars, heartache, poverty, and oppressions, but … in the midst of conflict and aggression, we can, from time to time, see moments of reconciliation and of compassion. Occasions when the parent of a murdered son can forgive his killers, when a community can rise against the gangs that terrorize it and make it a better place, when we can rise above the petty arguments that spoil our human relationships are, for me, all a slice of the end times now. Some are dramatic world-changing occasions; others are small and apparently insignificant. Some affect whole nations and continents; others one or two individuals. The occasions may only be momentary and we quickly move back into the harsh reality of the everyday, but their effects linger, suggesting that new creation is possible and that transformation can happen.…

Belief in the resurrection is an act of rebellion against the evil, corruption and oppression that can so easily swamp us. Believing in the resurrection can be a refusal to accept the world as it is, that it can never change…. Believing in resurrection allows us to see the world with a long view, a perspective that looks backward to resurrection and forwards to the end times, recognizing traces of resurrection and end times in what is happening now. Believing in the resurrection can and should transform not only how we view the world, but how we live in it. We should become people in whom others can see new life, and people who introduce that new life wherever the world is stultifying and life-denying. Resurrection makes a difference not only to Jesus and the earliest disciples but also to us, as we live out our lives day by day. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We implore the Spirit to support our action to bring love, care, and compassion to the encounters with the people in our environment.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 9, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/3?11 

Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 9, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?35 

Meditation on Luke 24:35-48. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved April 9, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/04/09/1540147/ 

Psalms, PSALM 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 9, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/8?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Risen Existence. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 9, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-risen-existence/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Jesus Opened Their Minds to Understand the Scriptures. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 10, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Zuegner, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved April 10, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-april-9-2026 

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/