One With Us

Easter Sunday
04 April 2010


The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.


First reading Acts 10:34,37-43
Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘The truth I have now come to realise’ he said ‘is that God does not have favourites, You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judaea and in Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand. Now we are those witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead – and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead. It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 117:1-2,16-17,22-23

Second reading Colossians 3:1-4
Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.

Gospel Luke 24:13-35
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.

Reflection
By Grace Madriñan

I am a big fan of this alternative rock band called Switchfoot because of their sound and inspirational lyrics. They are often tagged as a Christian band but they philosophically disagreed with this label. At first, I did not understand their intentions. Aren’t they proud of being called a ‘Christian’ band? But as they explained, “Calling us 'Christian rock' tends to be a box that closes some people out and excludes them. And that's not what we're trying to do”. I realized that they did not want to tag their music as Christian genre so that they can reach out to more audience, believers and the unbelievers alike. Listening closely to their songs, you can hear some Bible passages blended into their melody and poetry. Subtly, they are able to share their message and their faith through music.

Reading about today’s Gospel, I used to wonder why Jesus did not introduce Himself directly to the two men while walking to Emmaus. He could just have stepped in front of them and made His majesty felt. Instead, He walked with them patiently, gauging their understanding of what happened. And upon realizing their lack of faith and knowledge of the essence of His death, He enlightened them and told them everything they needed to know. He did not force them to see Him instantly. It was only later, with the help of the Holy Spirit, that they recognized Jesus during the breaking of the bread.

The road to Emmaus is like our journey with the Lord. Oftentimes, we walk wrapped up in our own affairs that we do not realize His intervention. We do not recognize His message along the way, yet the Lord walks with us and patiently leads us to understanding. We can only recognize Jesus’ presence if we invite Him, just like when the two men invited Jesus to stay with them. It is only then that we will see Jesus walking with us and His hand is on every situation. This Easter Sunday, may we acknowledge the risen Jesus in our lives and invite Him to dwell in our hearts forever.

Dearest Jesus, Your love amazes me! You walked the path of death to be one with us, sinners. Be with us. Lord, now and forever. Amen.

Next week on God-speak
Proof of Love