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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

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Acts: 2: 14, 22-33

On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.

“You who are children of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:

I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.

My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit
that he received from the Father, as you both see and hear.”

The Word of the LORD.

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One of the earliest proofs of the resurrection is the complete transformation in Peter’s behavior.

Remember what happens on Holy Thursday and Good Friday: Jesus is betrayed, arrested, abandoned, and crucified. Meanwhile, Peter vehemently denies ever knowing Jesus three times.

Only the Apostle John and a few women stay with the LORD until his death.

Yet, in our first reading today, the same Peter who denied ever knowing Jesus, risks his life by preaching to the same crowds who put Jesus to death. 

“This man you killed, using lawless men to crucify him,” he says. “But God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.”

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“Of this we are all witnesses.”

There’s no other logical reason for the change in Peter’s behavior – from cowardice to courage, fear to freedom – unless he’s actually seen Jesus raised from dead.

Peter’s repeated encounters with the Risen Lord compel him to spend the next three decades of his life proclaiming the Good News until he freely dies like his Master, nailed to a cross, confident that he, too, would be raised to new life.

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Do I have that same confidence of Peter, the faith that all will be well?

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The Church offers us these readings during the Easter season to bolster us, inspiring us to believe what Peter did – there is life after death.

For He is Risen! Alleluia! 

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Image credits: (1) Resurrection of Christ, Tapestry Gallery, Vatican Museums (2) ChurchPOP (3) KBC Faith Talks, WordPress