20240403 WALKING WITH JESUS
03 April 2024, Easter Wednesday
First reading | Acts 3:1-10 © |
I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus, walk!
Once, when Peter and John were going up to the Temple for the prayers at the ninth hour, it happened that there was a man being carried past. He was a cripple from birth; and they used to put him down every day near the Temple entrance called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from the people going in. When this man saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple he begged from them. Both Peter and John looked straight at him and said, ‘Look at us.’ He turned to them expectantly, hoping to get something from them, but Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!’ Peter then took him by the hand and helped him to stand up. Instantly his feet and ankles became firm, he jumped up, stood, and began to walk, and he went with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God. Everyone could see him walking and praising God, and they recognised him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were all astonished and unable to explain what had happened to him.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 104(105):1-4,6-9 © |
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Sequence |
Victimae Paschali Laudes
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled,
hath sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
yet lives to reign.
Tell us, Mary:
say what thou didst see
upon the way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!
The angels there attesting;
shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
he goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen
from the dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps117:24 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by the Lord:
we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 24:13-35 © |
They recognised him at the breaking of bread
Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast.
Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth’ they answered ‘who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.’
Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.
When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.
WALKING WITH JESUS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 3:1-10; PS 105:1-4,6-9; LUKE 24:13-35]
The Lord has truly risen! Alleluia. This is the Easter proclamation of the Church. How do we know that He is risen? When we allow Jesus to walk with us in our daily life. This was what the crippled man from birth did. “When this man saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple he begged from them. Both Peter and John looked straight at him and said, ‘Look at us.’ He turned to them expectantly, hoping to get something from them, but Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!’ Instantly his feet and ankles became firm, he jumped up, stood, and began to walk, and he went with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God.” Indeed, Jesus is the One who can make us strong and walk upright again in life. On our own we are crippled by the trials of life and helpless. But with Jesus, we are not only able to walk but to jump with joy and praise God each moment of our life simply because Jesus is with us. He is truly alive in our midst.
Just calling out the name of Jesus in faith, like the apostle, is all it takes for Him to hear our pleas. But some of us are without firm faith in the Lord, like the crippled man. This faith must come from those who have encountered the Lord. Peter and John were certain that the Risen Lord was with them in their ministry. They knew that without the Lord, they had no power to do anything. But the Risen Lord, who is the same person as the Jesus of Nazareth, continues to work His healing miracles through His disciples, just as when He was on earth healing the sick and curing those who were lame and blind. Because of their consciousness of the presence of the Risen Lord, they were able to mediate the Lord’s healing grace to the crippled man.
But there is a need for minimum cooperation by those who are recipients of this healing grace even if initial faith is lacking. At least, one must be open to the possibility that Christ can heal. In this case, the crippled man was docile. He was looking for money from Peter and John. Instead, the apostles wanted to give him what was even more precious than monetary assistance. The apostles wanted to give him back his dignity, his health and his ability to walk and take care of Himself and be of service to the community. So when the apostles commanded him to walk, he could have said to himself that this was simply impossible and would not cooperate. But he knew, and he could experience that his feet and ankles had become firm and so with courage and faith in the Lord, “he jumped up, stood and began to walk.” It is important therefore that those of us who lack faith in the power of the Risen Lord must at least be receptive to those who have faith and cooperate with them in surrendering themselves to the Lord. This, too, was the same situation of the paralyzed man in the gospel that Jesus healed in the over-crowded house. It was the faith of his friends who brought him to Jesus through the roof that enabled him to be healed. (cf Mk 2:1-12)
Indeed, to grow in faith in the Risen Lord, we need both the Christian community, which is the Body of Christ, and our Lord Himself to walk with us to overcome the challenges of life. We cannot walk alone in faith. In the gospel, two distraught and disillusioned disciples “were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened.” They were downcast because of what happened to their master, whom they said proved to be “a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free.” Indeed, with the death of Jesus, their hopes for liberation were completely dashed. If Jesus could not do it, and He was such a great prophet in words and in deeds, performing miracles, then there was no hope for them left. Hence, they were walking away from Jerusalem as they thought Jesus’ mission was a failure.
But what is significant is that Jesus did not allow them to walk alone by themselves. It was important that He walked with them. This is the real reason why even among Christians, when we come together there is division. Or we can work hard on a project and fail badly. The truth is that often, we are more focused on our human ingenuity to complete the project, or to build community through strategizing. We have many meetings, but we do not bring Jesus into our deliberation and planning. With the blind leading the blind, both will fall into the ditch. Isn’t this true when we have depressed people talking together? They become more depressed because instead of enlightening and inspiring each other, they affirm each other in the believe that the situation is hopeless. They might find consolation that others feel the same way as them but they cannot help each other.
Without Jesus, they cannot find an explanation to the confusing reports that they heard. They said, “And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.” What are they to make out of these stories? This is also our question perhaps. Is it real? Is it true? Were they hallucinating? We are at a loss too, after reading so many accounts and explanations of the resurrection of our Lord.
Hence, as Christians, we must not only walk with each other, but above all, we must walk with Jesus. In the case of the two disciples at Emmaus, because they welcomed Jesus and they invited Him to walk with them, they were given a new perspective in looking at the events that unfolded. Jesus said to them, “You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?” So the Lord helped them to understand the plan of God, beginning with Moses and going through the prophets, and most of all “explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.”
Truly, we can read the Word of God and yet not be able to see the hidden truth and message embedded in the message. This is because we do not see the full meaning of the scripture. Most of us read the bible as if it is a history book. We read it on the surface level. But we are not conscious of the divine message intended for us to learn from the events and words reported. This is why a historical-critical study of the scriptures is not sufficient for us to come to know Jesus. Although it is important to know the historical facts and meaning of the scriptures, we must seek a deeper understanding of the moral and spiritual meaning of the texts. We must arrive at the “sensus plenior” or fuller sense of the texts in the light of the entire bible. The books of the bible cannot be read singly, as if it is unrelated to the overall message of the rest of the books. The seventy-two books of the bible are a unity in message in unfolding the divine plan of God. So in faith and through the inspiration of the Lord, we will come to appreciate the full significance of what the Word of God wants to reveal to us.
Finally, to journey with the Lord requires us to sense His presence in the Eucharist. It was at the Eucharist that the disciples came to appreciate the true presence of our Lord walking and journeying with them. “Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?'” It is at the Eucharist when both the Word of God and the Bread are broken, that we find Him truly in our midst, not just when we receive Holy Communion, but truly the head of the Christian community, His body. Indeed, it was only when they rejoined the larger Christian community that they could hear for themselves from the eleven that truly “The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” In turn, “they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.” To walk with Jesus therefore requires us to walk with the entire Church, the Body of Christ because Jesus is in the Christian community as head, especially when the Eucharist is celebrated.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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