PRI Reflections on Scripture • 4-4-24 - Thursday in the Octave of Easter

Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Gospel Luke 24:35-48
The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he 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.”
Reflection There’s a beautiful image of a Eucharistic celebration. Jesus appears. Jesus becomes present to a group of people who are filled with finally the belief and the understanding of the mystery of who he is and what he has come to accomplish. He proves his presence through his eating the fish, and he reminds them that what they have to do is to understand they are called to something, like Jesus went through, to suffer.
Which means to accept the unbelievable things that are happening and to surrender to them and to be able to be filled with his presence, and his presence is about the forgiveness of sin, about lifting people out of darkness into light. And they are to witness these things to everyone. It is a challenge given to the church.
Closing Prayer Father, your presence is your gift to us. Keeps in touch with the beauty of that indwelling presence that continues to nurture us, awaken us, free us from everything that robs us of the joy that you've called us to help us to feel the enthusiasm that we see in these men and women who are finally aware of who you are to us. You didn't leave us. You've come to be with us forever. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.