BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 23)
Third Sunday of Easter, Year B – May 4, 2003
“Easter Apparition”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 // I Jn 2:1-5a // Lk 24:35-48
The great promoter of positive thinking, Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, believes that one of the most wonderful principles known to man is called the “miracle principle”. Six words describe the principle: Expect a miracle – make miracles happen. According to him, if you keep your eyes open expectantly every day for great and wonderful things to happen, it is astonishing that great and wonderful things will tend to happen to you. Expect great things from God and you will receive great things from God. How then, can one go about expecting miracles and causing miracles to happen? According to Rev. Peale, the number one thing is to have a tremendous faith, a deep faith - a faith that is so positively strong that it rises above doubt. He asserts that if we train ourselves to have faith in depth, it will release an astonishing power in our life to produce miracles.
Indeed, there are some people who are figuratively swimming in a sea of troubles. They are so discouraged and dismayed by so many things that it is impossible for them to believe that a life-giving miracle could ever happen in their lives. The disciples of Jesus who were devastated by the event of his passion and death were similarly troubled with doubts, fears and despair. An Easter apparition was necessary to assure them of the reality of a stupendous miracle: the Lord’s resurrection. To the frightened and troubled disciples who were incredulous to the beautiful reality of the “miracle”, the Risen Christ revealed himself anew, opening their minds and hearts, instructing them about the paschal event of his death and resurrection, and its implications in their life as Easter witnesses.
The evangelist Luke’s account of this Easter apparition has a vibrant quality and a sunlit beauty to it. While the disciples were still talking about how the Risen Lord had appeared to Simon and how the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had recognized him at the breaking of the bread, the Risen Lord stood in their midst and said to them: “Peace be with you.” The blessings of wholeness and the fullness of life that were sung by the angels at the birth of Jesus (cf. Lk 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace to men who enjoy his favor.”), effected by him in his public ministry, and proclaimed by the crowd when he triumphantly entered Jerusalem (cf. Lk 19:38: “Blessings on the King who comes, in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!”), are now the risen Jesus’ permanent gift to his disciples. The Risen Lord’s salutation, “Shalom!” is, therefore, not merely a wish, but the bestowal of the gift of peace, harmony and the fullness of grace to the redeemed.
The Easter apparition of the Lord Jesus was meant to assure the disciples that he is truly risen from the dead. Luke’s narrative underlines the reality of Jesus’ victory over death by stressing that his resurrected body, though no longer subject to physical limitations, is real. Indeed, in the Jewish mentality, for the resurrection to be real, the Risen Jesus must walk, talk and eat as he had done in his earthly life. The table fellowship of the Risen Lord with his disciples is a powerful symbol of the miracle of new life and the reality of his resurrection.
In his Easter apparition, the Risen Jesus opened the minds of his disciples to understand the Scriptures. Ever the Divine Master and Teacher, he led them into a kind of catechesis concerning what is written about him in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms. As the glorified Messiah, he was the fulfillment of the Scriptures. He opened their minds to a radical understanding of the fulfilled messianic prophecy: “that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day” (cf. Lk 24:47). Moreover, he gently led them to perceive what their mission is as privileged witnesses of the resurrection: the repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, must be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem (cf. Lk 24:48).
In the marvelous account of the Easter apparition, the Risen Master was guiding his disciples to understand fully the meaning of the greatest miracle of all: his resurrection from the dead and his glorification. He was leading them on a spiritual journey from disbelief to belief, from doubt to worship, from despair to joy, from timidity to courage, from witnesses of the resurrection to powerful messengers of the good news of salvation. Indeed, in the miracle of Easter, the faith of the disciples was made complete. In opening themselves up to the Easter event, they would make miracles of new life and sunlit beauty happen, in time and space.
A. In the Easter apparition, the Christian disciples were transformed into joyful witnesses of the resurrection. Is our Easter experience equally transforming. Why? Or why not?
B. Are we open to receive the Risen Lord’s bestowal of the gift of peace? How do we share it with others?
C. Do we expect an Easter miracle every day of our life? What do we do to make the miracle of Easter happen in our life and in the life of others?
(Adapted from a prayer composed by Blessed James Alberione and from the Opening Prayer of the Third Sunday of Easter)
Leader: I firmly believe, my God, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as I believe in the resurrection of the body.
Assembly: Every day I want to arise to a new life so as to merit to arise in the glory of the last day.
Leader: God our Father, may we look forward to our resurrection, for you have made us your sons and daughters and restored the joy of our youth. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Assembly: Amen.
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.” (Lk 24: 47)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary as a special offering for world peace.
B. ACTION PLAN: Today, expect a “miracle” to happen in your life and thank the Lord for it. Today, make a small “miracle” happen in the life of others.