Third Sunday of Easter

(4/14/2024) Gospel Reading: Luke 24:35-48

 

“Jesus Opened Their Minds to Understand the Scriptures”

 

Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us;

make our hearts burn while you speak to us.

 

From the desk of Fr. Leo Alban Asuncion

     Chain smokers or heavy alcohol drinkers may go on for years until suddenly they become aware that their health is in a precarious condition. It is either to give up the bad habit or expect the worst. It will require more than a superficial and half-hearted resolution to accomplish this. What is needed is the solid conviction that a change of habits is a dire necessity if life is to be preserved.      

     Having conquered Satan, the source of all sin and its consequences of sickness and death, the Risen Savior now gives a universal commission to his chosen band. They are to sound the message far and wide that humankind has sinned and stands in need of God's mercy. His offer of mercy is available through God's Beloved Son who died from our sins and rose again to be with his own as their continual sacrifice of expiation and their Living Bread in the Eucharist. Therefore, there is need for a true, internal conversion, a sincere repentance, a change of living habits.       

     This is the self-same message that needs to be sounded far and wide today, when sin has been belittled, and the doors flung wide open to all manner of self-indulgence. The crying need of the impoverished goes unheeded, the low wage earner and the marginalized sectors are passed over with a helpless shrug.      

     Like air pollution that gradually and almost noticeably affects everyone living in a modern city, the evils of the day also begin to enter everyone's life and almost imperceptibly choke the good spirit. Conscience is dulled, attitudes adapt to pragmatic circumstances, the heart of humankind becomes hardened. There is a definite need for self-examination and reflection to discover whether one's spiritual health has not been impaired, and good principles eroded by the widespread corruption. Turning to the Spirit promised by the Savior will enable the sincere Christians to recognize the ailments, apply the proper remedies and grow steadily into the proper Christ-life which was begun in baptism. Christ has undergone his paschal mystery for everyone. It cost him exceeding pain. Should all this go unheeded and in vain?      

     From time to time a brief scrutiny of our inner attitudes towards sin is very much in place. This can be done in a recollection, or at home at the weekend. One    ought to pin-point how far one has come from the Catholic standpoint and the Church's views. It may mean life or death for our inner spirit. If we go regularly to the physician for a check-up to avoid any sudden fatal sickness, we ought to do the same for our spiritual health which has for its objective life that is eternal.

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Meditation: Aren't we like the apostles? We wont believe unless we can see with our own eyes. The Gospel accounts attest to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. Jesus goes to great lengths to assure his disciples that he is no mere ghost or illusion. He shows them the marks of his crucifixion and he explains how the Scriptures foretold his death and rising.

Jerome (347-420 AD), an early church bible scholar, comments:

"As he showed them real hands and a real side, he really ate with his disciples; really walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real tongue; really reclined at supper; with real hands took bread, blessed and broke it, and was offering it to them... Do not put the power of the Lord on the level with the tricks of magicians, so that he may appear to have been what he was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no ribs." (From a letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 34)

The door to heaven and key to paradise is through the cross
The centrality of the Gospel message is the cross - but fortunately it does not stop there. Through the cross Jesus defeated our enemies - death and Satan and won pardon for our sins. His cross is the door to heaven and the key to paradise. The way to glory is through the cross. When the disciples saw the risen Lord they disbelieved for joy! How can death lead to life, the cross to victory? Jesus shows us the way and he gives us the power to overcome sin and despair, and everything else that would stand in the way of his love and truth. Just as the first disciples were commissioned to bring the good news of salvation to all the nations, so, we, too, are called to be witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to all who live on the face of the earth. Do you witness the joy of the Gospel to those around you?

Lord Jesus, open our minds to understand the Scriptures that we may fully comprehend the truth of your word. Anoint us with your power and give us joy and boldness to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed.

   read more at: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org

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