Daily Catholic Reflection: April 08, 2021, Thursday in the Octave of Easter, Year B
Acts 3 : 11-26,
Psalm 8:2ab and 5.6-7a.7b-9 ,
Peace be With You
Brethren, Jesus after appearing to various groups of people, we see him today appearing to his disciples in the room they were hiding and greeted them "Peace be with You." They were all astonished and thought they were seeing a ghost but Jesus proved by showing himself, the wounds, the flesh and by eating with them so that they may come to believe. 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 Lord was real and had really resurrected.
However, It is quite surprising that after all they have been told about the Lord's resurrection, from the scriptures and from the witnesses of those who saw him after his resurrection through breaking of the bread could still not believe and were hesitant to. They couldn't believe it without touching. Why? It's obvious that they were discouraged as they saw Him being crucified, a thing they could not imagine could happen to Him, because they had not understood his mission in this world and all that was written about him and what he was saying. That's why he tells them, '‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms has to be fulfilled.’' It was his mission that the son of man must suffer, die and rise again on the third day. Then they came to understand.
Sometimes in our life, we also become hesitant to believe in the resurrection, or to believe in the Mysteries God invites to because of being overwhelmed by our daily experiences. This does no good to us, but shatters our spiritual growth. It makes us stuck in our old ways of sin and we cannot see the light ahead of us. It needs a radical turn to see that light. Jesus Christ is always inviting us daily to look at his victory over death and devil, Giving us hope and assurance that we are victors with him. No need of hesitancy but to believe in him the risen one for he is with us.
The “greeting of Peace” was not only for his disciples but for us all. The gift of resurrection he gives is peace, both peace of mind and of the body. He gives them peace to calm down their minds which were filled with a lot of thoughts of his crucifixion and the experiences they had undergone. In the same way, it was peace of the body, to live well again with one another and the whole world. It's there that he commissions them by calling them "witnesses" so that they carry this peace to all, an instrument of peace.
This same greeting is to us. The Risen Lord is giving us peace, the peace of mind not to fear anything, any situations, and whatever kills the body, for we are victors with him. This is the peace we need in this pandemic situation, when we are at peace we can easily conquer it. He also invites us to live in peace with one another and also share this peace with one another. Invite others to live in peace and also create peace where you are in the name of Jesus Christ. One way is by preaching forgiveness and reconciliation so that all may come to believe in the Risen Christ as Peter is preaching in the first Reading.
Reflect today on how you have created peace, how you have been an instrument of peace, how have you lived in peace with yourself and others and how do you correct and on how you have responded to those who destroy the peace the Lord gives. How have you been a witness of the risen Christ in both word and deed.
We pray today that the Lord may make us the witnesses of his resurrection and in witnessing him to make us the instruments of peace to his people as St Francis prayed. May he always be with us at all the times and may you be blessed forever. Amen
Blessed Easter.
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