LECTIONARY READINGS
First reading: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Responsorial psalm: Ps 4:2, 4, 7, 9
Second reading: 1 John 2:1-5
Gospel: Luke 24:35-48
Link to readings
SECOND READING
1 JOHN 2:1–5
I am writing this, my children, to stop you sinning; but if anyone should sin, we have our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is just; he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and not only ours, but the whole world’s. We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, ‘I know him’, and does not keep his commandments is a liar, refusing to admit the truth. But if anyone does obey what he has said, God’s love comes to perfection in them.
REFLECTION
I come to my place of prayer, my time of meeting and conversation with my loving God, who waits to welcome me. I begin by just sitting quietly, savouring a few moments of stillness … allowing the grace of the Holy Spirit to settle my body and mind. I may like to place my hands, palms uppermost, in a gesture of receptivity and openness to God’s presence.
I spend a few moments in gratitude, thanking God for the blessings, great or small, that I have received in recent times. When I feel ready, I read the passage a few times, slowly. I take time to ponder.
St John speaks of Christ taking away our sin. I may wonder what holds me in the bondage of sin? What imprisons me or prevents me from experiencing and trusting the presence of the Holy One? Perhaps I have an old trauma that needs healing, or an unhelpful image of God that needs to be revealed and released? I speak to my tender and loving God about whatever arises.
I reflect on my relationship with God. How has this been going recently? I ask God to show me how he sees it. Perhaps I sense a deep yearning to know the Lord even more fully? I pause, and listen to my internal longings.
Or perhaps I become aware of unhelpful attachments that get in the way of me spending time with the Lord. I notice where I need God’s assistance, and with deep trust and confidence, pray for the freedom for God’s love to ‘come to perfection in me’. I ask to want and to choose whatever better leads to God helping me live the love for which I have been born. Our Father . . .
GOSPEL
LUKE 24: 35–48
The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of the bread.
They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they could not believe it, and they stood dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then he told them, ‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it was written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’
REFLECTION
I quiet myself by slowing down my in-breath and out-breath. I inhale the breath of the Holy Spirit. As I become more present, I ask for God’s help to turn down the volume of my inner and outer noise, and attune to his presence ... to open my mind to understand the holy scripture. I prayerfully read this rich passage slowly, a couple of times.
I may allow my God-given imagination to continue travelling with the disciples. I ponder the journey of resurrection faith we have made together, as we accompanied Jesus from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. I notice what touches me. I pause and listen.
I allow myself to wonder whether I recognise Christ Jesus ‘on the road’ of my own life. Do I have a sense of his presence in my doubts, my fears, my peace, my joy, as I struggle to be faithful to him? I share whatever arises in my heart. Glory be . . .
Courtesy of St Beuno’s Outreach in the Diocese of Wrexham, UK