Recognizing Jesus

 Luke 24: 13-35

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

We might look upon this passage as a description of a Mass for it entails the breaking open of the Scriptures as well as the breaking of the bread. As with these two disciples, we often come to Mass preoccupied with concerns, problems, worries, decisions, and all sorts of "weights" that keep us from focusing on the proclamation of God's Word and the wonder of the Eucharistic meal.  Understandable, for we are human and do not live in a perfect, "germ free", "worry free" bubble.  We come as we are.  Reading this story, however, causes me to want to experience a "burning heart", one filled with ever-growing love and admiration for Jesus. Let us pray that we might carry this hunger to the Mass, ask that we might be distraction-free and be able to recognize Jesus, to fully concentrate on and participate in this marvelous gift 

Bro. Rene  

Mary's Joy and Ours

 John 20:11-18

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb

12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. 

 

Can we appreciate the depth of joy Mary Magdalene experienced when she recognized the voice of Jesus? Her sense of loss at the death of Jesus was compounded now by the absence of his body. It's no wonder that she who loved him so much, should be so distraught.  But not for long, hearing her name in a voice she knew so well reversed her anguish, as she expressed her joy by embracing Jesus.

May these Easter Octave days deepen our love for and confidence in our Risen Savior.  May we hear his voice call us by name, and may our fears and doubts be displaced by the Presence of the Risen Christ in our midst.

Bro. Rene  

 

 

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They Clasped His Feet

 Matthew 28: 8-15

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

What would my reaction have been if the Risen Jesus appeared to me after I had discovered the empty tomb?  I would be on the ground with the women, clasping and kissing his feet.  My beloved lives! All that he promised came true.  Would I ever doubt again?

This week is an on-going reflection on the Resurrection; let us use the time to let it's meaning, and particularly the Presence of Jesus, penetrate our hearts, minds, and thinking,  and cast away the fears that keep creeping into our lives. He has risen as he said; may doubts and fears disappear, even as we look ahead at the tasks before us this day.  All shall be well!

Bro. Rene

Slow To Understand

John 20: 1-9

The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Having celebrated Easter our whole lives, it's hard to put ourselves in the shoes of Mary Magdalene, Peter and John that first morning at the empty tomb.  Their confusion, though understandable, is hard for us to grasp.  Yet, how would we react if we were the first to encounter an empty tomb?  Tombs do not usually empty themselves  If the body is not there, then someone must have taken it. That would be our conclusion,  Yet, slowly the pieces came together...Jesus had predicted this, and now they knew what he meant. He was not there, the cloths that enrwrapped him were, but he was not.  He had truly risen from the dead.  Now what?  By the end of the day, he had appeared to them and it was clear and certain. He was alive!  

When our doubts seem to be getting the best of us, or as we continue with the COVID-19  restrictions and long for "normal living", let's keep in mind, RESURRECTION.  What seemed like the end of a happy trail was reversed.  Jesus was ALIVE and a whole new life for the Apostles and US, began and continues today. So will it be in our POST-COVI-19 lives.  Let us repeat over and over, 'HE IS RISEN. ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!"

 

Waiting

 Mark 16: 1-7

Jesus Has Risen

16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Liturgically, this is the quietest day of the year.  No Mass, empty tabernacles, patient waiting, expectation and hope. Truly a day of rest between the tragic, gut-wrenching events of Good Friday, and the glorious joy of the Resurrection tomorrow (or tonight at the Easter Vigil).  This is why Jesus became man, 30 years of preparation, 3 years of ministry...all to show us God's immeasurable love and invite us into a new and everlasting life, the one for which WE were created.  All else palls before this great mystery.  May we not be so pre-occuppied that we miss it. Let us be calm, peaceful and prayerful today.

Bro. Rene

 

I Am A King

 The Passion of the Lord (full Gospel Jn 18: 1-19; 42)

Jn 18: 28-40

They brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.

It was morning.

And they themselves did not enter the praetorium,

in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.

So Pilate came out to them and said,

“What charge do you bring against this man?”

They answered and said to him,

“If he were not a criminal,

we would not have handed him over to you.”

At this, Pilate said to them,

“Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”

The Jews answered him,

“We do not have the right to execute anyone,“

in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled

that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.

So Pilate went back into the praetorium

and summoned Jesus and said to him,

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered,

“Do you say this on your own

or have others told you about me?”

Pilate answered,

“I am not a Jew, am I?

Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.

What have you done?”

Jesus answered,

“My kingdom does not belong to this world.

If my kingdom did belong to this world,

my attendants would be fighting

to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.

But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”

So Pilate said to him,

“Then you are a king?”

Jesus answered,

“You say I am a king.

For this I was born and for this I came into the world,

to testify to the truth.

Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

 

When he had said this,

he again went out to the Jews and said to them,

“I find no guilt in him.

But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.

Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

They cried out again,

“Not this one but Barabbas!”

Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

 

On this solemn day, we reflect on the death of Jesus, the ultimate sign of his love for us. On Sunday he was hailed as a king, and today he is condemned to death for claiming to be a king. Because he knew he had to die so that we might live, Jesus bore the unreasonable accusations and charges made by people who did not understand the nature of his kingship, one that surpasses the limits of worldly concepts. His kingdom is NOT of this world, but of the world of the spirit and as such is available to ALL who believe and accept him.  We never seem to get that, and still fight among each other over petty things.  

As we read and reflect on the Passion today, may barriers that separate us disappear and above all, may we accept once again, Jesus as our King, Lord and Savior.

Bro. Rene

 

Follow His Example

 

John 13:1-15

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you

The three Synoptic Gospels focus on the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, but John underscores another aspect of Eucharist: Service.  As Jesus gave us his Body and Blood, he also gives us an example of how we feed one another:  He washes the feet of the disciples to emphasize the need for loving one another which is the result of partaking of his Body and Blood.. We are fed to be able to feed others, be it washing their feet or helping them in their need. Love flows from a heart that has been fed with the Bread of Life to those who hunger for love and care.  "I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you; you should also do." (Jn 18: 15)  

Bro. Rene