Gospel: Jesus Appears Again and Shares A Meal

Today marks the Third Sunday of Easter and the Gospel passage for today's reading will be lifted from the account of St Luke (tap here for the complete Mass readings from USCCB).

On the start of the third week of Easter, we continue to hear Gospel accounts of Jesus' appearances to his disciples followimg his Resurrection. Today's reading, taken from the Gospel of St Luke, follows immediately after the report of Jesus' appearance to his disciples on the road to Emmaus. This is the event being recounted by the disciples in the opening verse of today's Gospel.

Consistently in the reports of Jesus' post-Resurrection appearances, Jesus greets his disciples with the words, "Peace be with you." This is the most appreciate greeting. The disciples have witnessed the death of someone they loved, and they now fear for their own lives as well. Peace is what they need more than anything else. Jesus often connects his greeting of peace with another gift -- forgiveness. In today's Gospel, this connection is made in the final verses.

Even as they hear Jesus' greeting of us, the disciples are startled and terrified. They are uncertain about what to make of the figure before them and, quite understandably, they mistake Jesus for a ghost. Yet the figure before them is not a ghost; Jesus invites them to experience his resurrected body with their senses, to look and to touch. The figure before them is flesh and bone, still bearing the marks of the Crucifixion. Although the disciples cannot forget his suffering and death, peace begins to take root in their hearts, as their fears turn to joy and amazement.

As further proof of his identity and of his resurrected body, Jesus shares a meal with the disciples. The disciples have known Jesus best through the meals that he has shared with them. Descriptions of these meals are a defining element of St Luke's Gospel. By eating with his disciples after his Resurrection, Jesus recalls all these meals, and most importantly, he recalls the Last Supper.

St Luke's report of the Last Supper and the meals that Jesus shared after his Resurrection unveil for us the significance of the Eucharist. Having shared a meal with his disciples, Jesus now uncovers for them the significance of what was written about him in the Scriptures. So, too, our celebration of the Mass is an encounter with Jesus, through the Word and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. As Jesus commissions his disciples to be witnesses to what the Scriptures foretold, our celebration of the Eucharist commissions us. Like the disciples, we are sent to announce the good news of Jesus' firgiveness of sins.

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