Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Parish Pilgrimage, Day 1: Mass is being offered today at the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth.

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“Nothing will be impossible for God.”

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What an excellent way to begin our parish pilgrimage. We’ve all come here with a number of prayer intentions, not only for ourselves but also for others. I’m literally carrying a bookbag full of prayer intentions we received from parishioners back home!

As we begin journeying together, learning more about the life and ministry of Jesus, we rejoice in the angel Gabriel’s promise, once made to Mary and now made to us, “Nothing will be impossible for God.”

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We now take a moment to call to mind all those particular prayer intentions. I invite you to either say them out loud, so that we can pray with you, or to lift them up from your heart in silence.

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Image credits: (1) Basilica of the Annunciation (2) Ibid. (3) Ibid.

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Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48

he 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 space, 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: turn to the Lord, who offers what only he can, peace.

Shalom.

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Image credits: (1) Minnesota Annual Conference (2) Doubting Thomas, Caravaggio (3) JosephPrince.com

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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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Today’s Gospel represents, symbolically, a life with – or without – Christ.

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In the beginning, the disciples are moving away from Jerusalem. They’re walking westward, into the sunset, into the night.

Such is the soul without Christ: restless and dim.

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After Jesus appears to them, however, they change directions. The Lord listens to them, explains the Scriptures, and “breaks bread,” a likely reference to the Eucharist. 

“Were our hearts not burning within us?” they say on their way back to Jerusalem. 

Such is the soul with Christ: filled with light; alive; peaceful; purpose-driven; determined to share the Gospel with others.

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May the Lord give us the same grace to recognize Him the “breaking of the bread,” so that his life may also become ours.

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Image credits: (1) Walking with Christ, Robert Zünd (2) Emmaus, Chris Antenucci (3) Freerange Stock