Witnesses to Full Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with stories of people acting in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to make Jesus Love present in Word, Sacrament, and Experience.

New Day for Full Life

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico.

* [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 praises 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). (Psalms, PSALM 8 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus Appears to His Disciples.

* [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.)

Molly Mattingly (2017) comments that in the Gospel today, two disciples have just returned from their walk and meal with Jesus on the way to Emmaus. They are in the process of telling the others what happened when, all of a sudden, Jesus is there! Everyone is “startled and terrified!”

In the Gospel today, two disciples have just returned from their walk and meal with Jesus on the way to Emmaus. They are in the process of telling the others what happened when, all of a sudden, Jesus is there! Everyone is “startled and terrified!” I have to smile at that – I imagine even the two telling the story were startled when it happened again. Isn’t that usually the way, though? Don’t I often tell stories I know to be true, for someone anyway? It could be a tragedy I heard on the news, or a happy story about the unlikely circumstances that led to two people meeting. And yet, when similar things happen to me or someone close to me, I am startled, or even terrified, that they are now reality in my own little world. The distance between words and experience evaporates. Head knowledge becomes heart knowledge. We tell a bit of the Church’s story, our story with God, every time we pray together in the liturgy. And yet, I am always a little startled when I notice that Jesus is there. As the psalm says, “What are we that you (God) should be mindful of us? ... You have made us little less than angels.” (Mattingly, 2017)

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 is also present to us in the men and women he dwells in. A friend’s comforting arm around your shoulder, a kind word from a neighbor, or wise counsel from a mentor can all reveal Christ’s closeness to us.

In his goodness, Jesus allowed his disciples to see his physical body. In his goodness, he makes himself present to you as well, in the sacraments and in his people. So if you’re feeling troubled today, ask him to help you recognize that he is with you. Then be on the lookout for him. He wants to give you a fresh experience of his presence today.

“Lord, I know you are with me—open my eyes to see you!” (Meditation on Luke 24:35-48, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the passage in Acts where after Peter and John have healed the man they proclaim the promises to Israel are fulfilled in Jesus. Luke ties the mission of Jesus to the Law and Prophets. Friar Jude explains that the three encounters of the risen Jesus with the disciples are in Word, Sacrament, and in Person, mirroring our experience.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on the presence of light at the resurrection.

During the first six centuries of Christianity, the moment of Jesus’ resurrection was mostly deemed unpaintable or uncarvable. [1] The event is not even directly described in the New Testament. All we’re given are the aftermath stories—stunned guards, seated angels, visiting women, and other resurrections: “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of those who had fallen asleep were raised up” (see Matthew 27:51–53). Note how resurrection was already corporately understood in this telling verse. 

Most of us, if we are paying attention, also have such resurrection moments in the middle of our lives, when “the veil parts” now and then. Jesus says, “Believe in the light so that you also may become children of the light” (John 12:36), letting us know that we participate in the same mystery, and he is here to aid the process. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

 Episcopal priest Becca Stevens writes of the hopeful message of the dawn’s light:

Sunrise calls women with grieving hearts to sing; it enables priests to be present for decades at the same altar, and paints each morning in colors so tender they turn stone hearts to flesh. Light means that we can live in hope, dedicated to justice and truth, knowing the light will never leave us. The light is ours for the beholding and allows us to make our song even at our own Easter morning, “Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.”…  

Sunrise in the story of Easter is not just a time of day; it is a state of the heart. Sunrise is the space where nighttime fears move aside for hope, where we feel peace about our mortality in the scope of the universal truth that love abides and where we feel light crest the dark horizons of hearts we have kept barricaded. [3] (Rohr, n.d.)

We are gifted with physical witness to the Presence of Christ in the kind and loving actions of people and the glory and awe of Nature.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/3?11 

Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?35 

Mattingly, M. (2017, April 20). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Archive/2017/042017.html 

Meditation on Luke 24:35-48. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/04/04/930104/ 

Psalms, PSALM 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/8?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Dawn’s Radiant Light. CAC Daily Meditations April 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/dawns-radiant-light/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Jesus Opened Their Minds to Understand the Scriptures. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 4, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=apr4 

Healing Presence

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be open to opportunities to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in our actions on our journey.

Companion on the Way

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter heals a Crippled Beggar.

* [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 praises God’s Faithfulness to Israel.

* [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). In every phase of the national story—the ancestors in the land of Canaan (Ps 105:12–15), Joseph in Egypt (Ps 105:16–22), Israel in Egypt (Ps 105:23–38), Israel in the desert on the way to Canaan (Ps 105:39–45)—God remained faithful, reiterating the promise of the land to successive servants. (Psalms, PSALM 105 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke presents the Walk 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.)

George Butterfield (2012) notes that after spending thirty years as a minister, he preached a lot of sermons. As a Catholic for ten years, he heard a lot of homilies. He has been asked to compare the preaching of his sermons with those homilies. He does not do this for one simple reason: it is impossible to compare them.

In the former setting you have powerful sermons and sometimes it causes hearts to burn. But where is Jesus? In the latter, whether or not your heart burns from the homily, Jesus is known in the breaking of the bread. Would I like to hear better homilies? Yes. But I cannot imagine giving up the risen Jesus for a better homily. The homily is not the only words spoken in the Mass. We also hear: “This is my body” and “This is my blood.” Whether or not the homily causes our hearts to burn, when those words of institution are spoken, things happen. Oh to have eyes to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread! (Butterfield, 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 that not everyone can preach like Peter. Certainly the healed man’s only reported words were the praises of God. But by his joy, he led many people to Jesus that day. They not only were amazed at his healing, but they also put their faith in the resurrection and joined the community of believers, despite seeing Peter and John put in custody (Acts 4:3-5). The change in this unlikely evangelist gave visible testimony to the power of God to change even lifelong conditions!

Don’t underestimate the power of the testimony of your life. You can witness to the life-changing power of Jesus by living in the freedom God has given you. You can bring hope and open the door for someone to meet Jesus!

“Thank you, Jesus, for changing my life!” (Meditation on Acts 3:1-10, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the preaching and teaching of the Gospel of Luke continues in the Acts of the Apostles as Peter and John go to the Temple and heal the beggar. The unnamed companion of Cleopas in the Emmaus journey may be us! Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus, who was not recognized three times after His Resurrection, was made visible in the breaking of the bread.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, writes of resurrection as an inherent aspect of incarnation. Theologian Elizabeth Johnson considers the embodied nature of Jesus’ resurrection.

The resurrection starts on earth with Jesus dead and buried, and ends up in God with Jesus the Living One transformed by the power of the Spirit. Alive in God, his presence is no longer bound by earth’s limits but partakes of the omnipresence of God’s own love. Christ is now present in word and sacrament and wherever two or three gather in his name. True to the pattern of his ministry, he also approaches, mysteriously revealed and concealed, in the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the homeless, those in prison, the very least of those in need. Ultimately, through the power of the Spirit, Jesus is with the whole community of disciples, indeed with the whole community of creation, through every hour, until the end of time. Is this true? All explanations aside, it has to be a lived truth, seen in the lives of those who are participants in Christ’s ongoing work in the world. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We consider the experience we have of Jesus Presence as a healing and hopeful force as we accept the mission to be His physical body in our environment.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/3?1 

Butterfield, G. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/040324.html 

Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?13 

Meditation on Acts 3:1-10. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/04/03/929452/ 

Psalms, PSALM 105 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/105?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Resurrection and Incarnation. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/resurrection-and-incarnation/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Did Not Our Hearts Burn While He Opened to Us the Scriptures. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=apr3