Gospel Reflection of 3rd Sunday of Easter – Sunday 15th April 2018

3rd Sunday of Easter

 (Sunday 15th April 2018)

 

A Place of Encounter – (Luke 24:35-48)

Today’s Gospel reading is about encounter; encountering the person of Jesus in a very real and physical way.  Today we are reminded as we so often are in the scriptures that the Resurrection is a physical reality.  And when we make the claim that we are a Resurrected people, this is what we are acknowledging.  The Resurrection, the physical reality of the Resurrection, is central to who we are as Christians.  It should permeate everything that we do.

In today’s Gospel Christ asks the disciples to physically touch His wounds.  And He does something else too – He eats with His disciples!  Eats!!  Only a live human being can eat real food.  A purely spiritual being cannot do that.  But there is also something else very physical going on here and in a special way permeates our lives today.  Look at some of the phrases from today’s Gospel, there are three to keep in mind; First, it says, “He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”   Second, we see that they gathered around a meal and Jesus ate in their midst.  And third, He offered them peace.  He said “Peace be with you!”.  Now what is all of this supposed to remind us of?  The answer is the Holy Mass.  Mass is our place of physical encounter with Jesus.  God meets us in a very physical and natural way.  Remember that the sacraments are a very physical, natural means by which God communicates a supernatural reality.  And the celebration of the Mass, the reception of Holy Eucharist, is that place of encounter.  It is the primary means by which we live out as a Resurrected people.  So in closing, are we entering into the Mass as a place of encounter?  Do we see the Mass as the primary place that we encounter Jesus in our lives?  And what can we do so that every Sunday we become more aware of this encounter?