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Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48

The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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What is the first word that Jesus says after being raised from the dead?

“Peace.”

In Hebrew, “Shalom.”

“Shalom” means inner stillness; harmony; wholeness; prosperity.

These are the things the Risen Lord offers his disciples in today’s Gospel after appearing to them behind locked doors. 

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You can imagine the disciples hiding fearfully somewhere in Jerusalem. Outside their room, they can hear children running through the alley ways, locals bartering in the streets, people chattering back and forth.

Meanwhile, they must’ve been wondering, “Are those the same voices who shouted ‘Crucify him!’ on Good Friday? If we leave this place, will people recognize us? Will we be crucified next?”

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Thankfully they’re discovered – not by an aggressor, but by the Lord.

“Peace,” he says. Shalom.

The Lord does for the disciples what no one else can; he stills their hearts.

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At times, I’m sure we all feel like the disciples did, not necessarily fearing for our lives, but afraid of one thing or another. 

In those moments, the invitation remains the same: to turn to the Lord, who offers what only he can, peace.

Shalom.

“Do not be afraid,” he says, “I have overcome the world.”

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Image credits: (1) Walking on Water, Joseph Brickey (2) Doubting Thomas, Caravaggio (3) posterlounge

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Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Why are the resurrection appearances always drenched in doubt?

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Yesterday, for example, we encountered Mary Magdalene in the garden, who went to visit the Lord’s tomb. She cried her eyes out – so much so that she couldn’t even recognize the Lord when he was standing right in front of her!

“Doubting” Thomas won’t believe, either. He insists upon driving his finger into the nailmarks of Christ’s hands and sliding his hand into Christ’s side before experiencing a change of heart.

Today we encounter two other disciples leaving Jerusalem who were, “hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.”

They are heading west towards Emmaus, literally into the sunset – and spiritually into the night. 

Like the others, they’re grief-stricken and disappointed.

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The Lord is patient before revealing himself to them. He allows the disciples to share their sorrows and disappointment before breaking open the scriptures and sharing a meal with them.

When they finally “see” that it is the Lord, what do they do?

They rush back to Jerusalem – back into the light – to share the Good News with others.

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Each of these resurrection accounts remind us that faith is a journey – a series of questions and answers, which sometimes requires re-shaping our expectations or understanding of who God is.

As Emily Dickenson once wrote, “The truth must dazzle gradually, or every man would be blind.”

May the reality of the resurrection continue to dazzle us gradually, lest we go blind… for He IS Risen! Alleluia!

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Image credits: (1) Emmaus Road, The Missional Network (2) Depositphotos (3) The King’s College

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Gospel: John 20: 11-19

Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Mary Magdalene loves Jesus so much.

Although she thinks he’s dead, she cannot focus on anyone else. As soon as the Sabbath breaks, she rushes to the garden to anoint his body, her eyes overflowing with tears.

She has cried so much over the last three days, that she doesn’t even realize she’s speaking to angels inside the Lord’s tomb!

“Woman, why are you weeping?” they say to her. “They’ve taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.”

Mary doesn’t even have to say his name. There’s no one else on her mind. Only Jesus.

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Even after the Risen Lord appears to her, Mary mistakes him for a gardener. “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”

As if Mary is strong enough to lift the Lord’s body on her own and carry him away. Her plans are illogical, driven not by reason, but by love.

“I will take him away.”

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After speaking to the “gardener,” Mary turns her back on Jesus and re-focuses her eyes on the tomb. 

Here’s where most people can identify with her.

When we lose a loved one, often our eyes turn back to the grave, to what was, not to what will be. 

But, in the words of Saint Paul, “Brothers and sisters, if then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above… not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God… So you too will appear with him in glory.”

This Easter season, may the reality of the empty tomb take deeper root in our hearts, leading us to everlasting peace.

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Image credits: (1) Mary Magdalene at the Sepulcher, Harold Copping (2) These Mountains We Climb (3) St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary, Burlington, ON