Hymns for Mass – Press Here

FIRST READING (The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead.)

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (3:13-15,17-19)

Peter said to the people: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (4:2, 4, 7-8, 9)

R. Lord, let your face shine on us. (Ps 4:7a)

Or Alleluia.

When I call, answer me, O my just God, you who relieve me when I am in distress; have pity on me, and hear my prayer! (R)

Know that the Lord does wonders for his faithful one; the Lord will hear me when I call upon him. (R)

O Lord, let the light of your countenance shine upon us! You put gladness into my heart. (R)

As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep, for you alone, O Lord, bring security to my dwelling. (R)

SECOND READING (Jesus Christ is expiation not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.)

A reading from the first Letter of Saint John (2:1-5a)

My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. —The Word of the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Cf. Lk 24:32)

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts

burn while you speak to us. (R)

GOSPEL (Thus it was written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (24:35-48)

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this, Jesus stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” —The Gospel of the Lord.

R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

“Have you anything here to eat?”

The Gospels are filled with stories about Jesus sharing a meal. Some of them illustrate his observance of major feasts such as the Passover (Lk 17:35) or attending a wedding; others describe meals at the homes of people he knew such as at Peter’s home, or at the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector, or the home of Simon the Pharisee, or at the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. We even find in one passage criticism that Jesus ate perhaps too often and didn’t observe the proper fasting regulations such as those followed by the disciples of John the Baptist. But, when you think about it, hearing stories of Jesus at meals is quite natural as it is something that we all do as humans – we eat meals.

Today’s Gospel opens at the end of the narrative about the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus on the Day of the Resurrection. It is a story familiar to us. The narrative begins at the point where they have rushed back in the evening to Jerusalem, to the “Upper Room” where the other disciples have been hiding in fear. In their excitement they speak of how Jesus was made known to them “in the breaking of the bread.” 

Throughout the New Testament, the expression “the breaking of bread” is a way of describing a shared meal. If a person eats alone, he does not need to break the bread, because there is nobody to share it with. However, if you are eating with another person, the loaf of bread – always placed at the center of the table – must be broken into pieces and shared so that everyone can have some. In the Acts of the Apostles, the early church was described as having everything in common, coming together to study the teaching of the Apostles, praying together, and eating together. Their common meals were called “the breaking of the bread.”

 By the time of St. Paul, this phrase was the standard way of describing the Eucharist. From this we can infer that what the disciples thought was a customary sharing of food was now changed by Jesus into a sacramental meal. They now realized – as those first two disciples on the road to Emmaus realized – that what they thought was a simple sharing or offering to a stranger introduced them now to a profound religious experience.

Even before the two disciples could even complete their recounting of their own experience with the Risen Lord, Jesus was standing in their midst. “They were startled and terrified.” Why? Because Jesus, who had died, was now among them ALIVE. And recalling what I said last week, they were terrified and probably embarrassed because they – like Thomas – realized that they had betrayed the Lord, and now he was standing before them! The scene is the same as that which we heard last Sunday. Jesus greets them with words of peace. It is a scene of tenderness and reassurance. 

He shows them his wounds – his scars – and asks them to touch them.

Then – to prove to them he was not a ghost but a real living person, he asks, “Have you anything here to eat!”  And just as he did with the two disciples, he breaks bread – he eats – with them, and while eating he teaches them – he “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” You could say – following the meal and eating analogies, that Jesus gave them more than bread to chew on.

Jesus is not only at the center of their amazement, but he is also the focus of their instruction.  Most of the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus have a common pattern: Jesus’ PEACE, his PRESENCE, and his PURPOSE. 

The message of PEACE is one built on FORGIVENESS. They were forgiven for doubting and betraying the Lord. It is a message of forgiveness that comes with a sense of repentance. Forgiveness and repentance go together. Sadly,  we often try to separate them. Some people can repent, but they find it hard to forgive – especially forgiving themselves. When we put forgiveness and repentance together. we have the magnificent truth of Easter. No matter what we have done, what happened in our past, our repentance can bring about a new life, healing, forgiveness and peace. This is the message in Peter’s discourse: “Repent that your sins may be wiped away!”

The second point is His PRESENCE. “It is I myself” IT IS ME! Today as people of faith we recognize that Jesus IS truly among us through the Holy Spirit when we gather to pray, when we hear His Word, and when we share the Eucharist. For too long over the last 12 months, our weekly assembly has been interrupted, shut down, pushed to the ethereal world of internet that cannot – ever – replace the fellowship we share gathered in our churches or chapels. 

What brings us here, what should be drawing us is that the Risen Lord is at work in the lives of each and every one of us – each has his or her own story, his or her own needs, his or her own hopes and dreams – and Christ is present to each one. He comes to each one through the breaking of the bread, the sharing of his Risen Body given for us. 

Finally, we have His PURPOSE – The Lord sends us out to the world to be witnesses to the truth. This is our Mission – just as in the light of the resurrection, Jesus explains to the disciples on the Road to Emmaus how he had truly fulfilled the aspirations of Israel. Through the very simple human act of sharing a meal, the Risen Lord opened the inner eyes of the disciples enabling them to see that it really was HE. 

A last point of this story of the Road to Emmaus centers on the “gift of understanding. Think of times in your own life when you have felt confused, in doubt, and not able to make sense of all going on around you – something each of us has experienced at various levels in the last 18 months or so. Without the gift of understanding, we are often left on our own to make sense of life. This is especially true when we face hardship or suffering. How can an all-good and loving God allow the innocent to suffer? How is it that God can seem absent from human tragedy? 

The truth is that he is never absent. He is centrally involved in all thigs, but without the Gift of Understanding, experienced through the Scriptures and the faith of others, we cannot see his divine actions in our lives. We must allow Jesus to open our eyes. We must allow Him to open our minds through faith. As St. Augustine taught so long ago: “Faith is to believe what you do not see. The reward of faith is to see what you believe.”

Are you willing to believe without seeing? Are you willing to believe in the goodness and love of God even when life, or a particular situation in life, does not make sense? Pray at this Mass and through this week for the Gift of Understanding. To believe in God means that we believe in a PERSON. We believe in Him even though we find ourselves confused or doubting. But the gift of understanding opens the door to a depth of understanding that we could never arrive at alone – we need Jesus to accompany us on our own Road to Emmaus.

Prayers

Celebrant:  As we hear his word in the scriptures, our hearts burn within us, with a longing for God’s presence. With this Easter hope, let us present our needs in prayer.

READER: That those who teach in the Church will remain faithful to the Gospel of repentance and forgiveness, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: That leaders of the Church, government, and industry will work together to provide food, employment, and justice for all, especially in these difficult times, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: That those who are dying may know the peace of the risen Christ, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: That we may come to a deeper understanding of why Christ had to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

READER: That Christ, “our advocate with the Father,” will bring the dead to eternal glory, (Pause) LET US PRAY TO THE LORD.

CELEBRANT: Almighty God and Father, we ask you to grant these prayers, through your risen Son, the glorious prince of life, living and reigning for ever and ever, (all) AMEN.