'The disciples recognised Jesus in the breaking of the bread, alleluia.' Sunday Reflections, 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B
Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Gospel Luke 24:35-48 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marvelling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.
Then 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 the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
It is clear from many gospel readings, most especially the accounts of the Last Supper, that God reveals himself to us in the intimacy of a meal. If the family meal or meals with close friends are not part of our lives, how can we understand the meal aspect of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? In the Mass, in which we unite ourselves with the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, he gives himself, the Risen Lord, body, blood, soul and divinity, as the Bread of Life, as so many of us learned when we were young. It is not a symbol of himself that he gives in Holy Communion, but his very self, carrying the scars of Calvary and giving us the strength to do the same.
But God also reveals himself to us in our ordinary meals, sometimes even over a cup of tea or coffee. I remember one person who was close to me who for many years had carried a resentment towards someone who had since died, a resentment that was the result of a painful experience. Over a cup of tea with a family member she recalled what her father, long since dead, had said to her many years before: Never carry a grudge against anyone. Over that cup of tea she finally let go of her self-inflicted pain, forgave, and moved on with a new lightness in her heart. I have no doubt whatever that it was Jesus the Risen Lord who spoke to her that day through the words of her father. It was a kind of Resurrection experience over a cup of tea.
The three readings both speak
of God's mercy and the call to repentance, something the person in the story
above experienced over that cup of tea. Acts 3:18-19 reads: But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his
Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again,
that your sins may be blotted out. 1 John 2: 1-2, 5 tells us But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not
for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world . . . but
whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.
Jesus tells us in the Gospel: Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:46-48).
Velázquez in the two paintings above puts the central events in the background. In the kitchen scene in Emmaus it seems that the servant has a sense that her humble work is part of something extraordinary. And it is. In the kitchen scene in the house of Mary and Martha the servants are preparing a meal for our Saviour Himself, without being aware of it.
Highlighted in this scene are fish. The fish was later to become a symbol of Christ and of the Holy Eucharist for Christians in times of persecution under the Greek name Ichthys. And in today's gospel we read: “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.
Two great deprivations at the moment because of the pandemic is that in many parts of the world Catholics have no access to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and to Holy Communion. And even more people cannot visit their families and friends, cannot meet up for a meal, for a drink, for a chat over a cup of coffee. However, though it is not the same as meeting others face-to-face, we can keep in contact by phone, by Skype, by Zoom and similar programmes. And while following Mass on the internet or on TV is not the same as being actually present, it is an occasion of grace, of meeting the Lord. And we can make a Spiritual Communion.
Even when we're not talking about profound things at a meal, when we see them as occasions when we most experience our humanity, when we see the link between the family or community meal, or a meal to which we invite someone living alone, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we can more readily understand the implications of the closing words of today's gospel, You are witnesses of these things.
And a final word. If the two disciples who told how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread, had not invited Jesus to eat with them they would never have recognised him. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is towards evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them (Luke 24:28-29).
Extraordinary Form of the Mass
Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)
Second Sunday after Easter
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 4-18-2021 if necessary).
Epistle: 1 Peter 2:21-25. Gospel: John 10:11-16.
Authentic Beauty
Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.
Pope Benedict XVI meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel, 21 November 2009.
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