Gospel Reading : Luke 24.35.48
The disciples told what had happened on the road, and how Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then 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, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
GUIDELINES
“Look at my hands and my feet, yes, it is I indeed” Can you bring to mind an experience in your life or in the life of someone you know where, with humility and great courage they revealed their own wounds, (their struggles), this is me, “yes, it is I indeed.” These are my wounds, I’m not hiding behind them anymore, I’m being truthful to myself and from doing this they found freedom and self-acceptance. “Touch me and see for yourself”-their genuineness drew others to them. We are so good at camouflaging and bandaging up our wounds. We pray for the courage to look closely at our lives and see where we need to expose our wounds so that we may receive healing.
“Why are you so agitated? Why are these doubts rising in your hearts? a ghost has no flesh and bones “Can you identify in your life or in the life of your family, community or country where the ghosts of the past (hurts, trauma, conflicts…) are causing us to be haunted with fears, doubts and agitation and we are unable to see that they have “no flesh and bones. “They prevent us from truly living and enjoying life.
Help us to recognise these events as “ghosts of the past” and lay them to rest. May we be given the grace to see the gifts that are present to us each day and see the potential for a new life and a future filled with happiness, hope and joy.
“Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it “Have you ever experienced or witnessed “great joy” in seeing something miraculous happen? Feeling completely exhilarated and the experience took your breath away. Experiencing new life after a very traumatic event, becoming a parent, experiencing love again after bereavement or loss, completing and receiving good results after years of study, watching a beautiful sunrise, completing a sporting challenge which took extreme effort, etc. We give thanks for all the events in our lives where we have experienced true joy.