Thursday, April 16, 2020 - Thursday in the Easter Octave - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 24, 35-48 - This is the day which the Lord has made, may it be a day of feast and joy for us!
The apparitions of Jesus to the disciples, after his resurrection, continue. On the same night that the disciples of Emmaus met and recognized Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem to share this happy event with others. The resurrection takes away our fear, makes us ignore tiredness and makes us come out of our cocoon of withdrawal to open up and share with others. It is by reporting these events that Jesus appears to them. He reveals Himself, in turn, first to some, then to each one and finally to the assembly. It is His way of telling each one of us and all of us that He never leaves us unprepared in the mission He entrusts to us: to proclaim His resurrection.
At each of his apparitions, He says: "Peace be with you! Do not be afraid!" He gives us peace, He leaves us in peace. It is the peace of the resurrected, the peace of the victor. It is this peace that the Apostles proclaim at the beginning of each of their letters. It is this peace that the Church intends to spread and perpetuate through the liturgy of the Eucharist.
As for fear, let us note that the scene takes place in the middle of the night, in addition to the supernatural phenomenon of a dead person coming back to life, the human spirit can only wander around thinking of a returner, a ghost... Jesus wants to remove this fear from us and from the disciples: "Why are you upset? And why these thoughts that arise in your heart? See my hands and feet: it is indeed me! Touch me, look: a spirit has no flesh and bones as you see that I have". Easter also eliminates worries, doubts... And to definitively eradicate every trace of unbelief in the spirit of the disciples, Jesus puts himself at their level and brings proofs through the Word of God: the whole of Sacred Scripture is only the revelation of Jesus.
Thus, may our whole life - our words, our deeds and our actions - be the proclamation of the Risen Christ. That is to say, may our life be Easter all the time. Amen.
