Lk 24: 35-48
Dear Friends, The real power and message of today’s story is not in the Alleluia. It is the account of how difficult it was for the disciples to embrace the reality of the Alleluia, the risen Lord, the Suffering Messiah’s who conquest of death.The disciples are gathered in fear and anguish. The Emmaus travelers are enthusiastically sharing their experience. During their wild tale, Jesus appears. Luke describes the immediate reaction. It is not one of joy and wonder. The people in the room are startled and terrified. They think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus calms them down by showing them the remnants of his wounds on his hands and feet. Then he eats the fish. Luke’s invites us into the profound struggle for the disciples and the others to accept the resurrection.
The risen Jesus is in their presence. The disciples were engulfed in a total transformation of reality. It was truly difficult for them to grasp. It is equally challenging for us even after these many centuries. All the resurrection stories try to convey the necessity of a profound faith to fathom the new reality. Even with Jesus physically present, the disciples’ reaction was terror and shock.
The point for us is to avoid a superficial response to the mystery. We need to avoid an Alleluia that comes from the mouth and not the depths of the heart. Luke is telling us it is a long passage of faith from the simple information to the ultimate experiencing of reality as gracious and life-giving.
The resurrection is intimately connected to the cross. They are one event. In the two aspects of this experience, we have the full revelation of God’s love. The suffering Messiah unveils a God who does not control or coerce. Love that frees and invites is the lesson. In confrontation with the world’s evil, Jesus chose to suffer rather than to dominate and conquer. We are invited into a great mystery foretold by the prophets. It was misunderstood by the disciples and their successors down to our day.
The God who raised Jesus to the Easter victory is with us today. He conquers evil for us also. Easter shows us that God will transform danger, sorrow and suffering into new life and new freedom when we walk with Jesus.
In today’s Gospel passage, three points are highlighted by Luke. First, the Messiah was not what they or we expected: a rejected and humiliated Savior. Secondly, conversion and forgiveness are to be preached in his name. Thirdly, the message needs to be proclaimed to all the world.
Pope Francis’s statement of his vison for the Church was laid out for us in his exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel. The unifying theme of this wondrous statement is preaching the Gospel to all the world.
Francis states:
“I dream of a “missionary option,” that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything. So that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.” (The Joy of the gospel #27)We need to enter into the Alleluia event of Easter. When we truly embrace it, we have no choice but to proclaim it with all our being. We will then follow the example of the disciples who finally made the passage to the real Alleluia and its overwhelming significance. Death has been conquered and the new creation has begun.
