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Message from the desk of the Pastor:

The Third Sunday of Easter

Sunday, March 14, 2024

Gospel Reading 

Luke 24:35-48

Jesus appears again to his disciples and shares a meal with them.

Background on the Gospel Reading

On the third Sunday of Easter, we continue to hear Gospel accounts of Jesus’ appearances to his disciples following his Resurrection. Today’s reading, taken from the Gospel of Luke, follows immediately after the report of Jesus' appearance to his disciples on the road to Emmaus. This is the event being recounted by the disciples in the opening verse of today’s Gospel.

Consistently in the reports of Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances, Jesus greets his disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.” This is a most appropriate greeting. The disciples have witnessed the death of someone they loved, and they now fear for their own lives as well. Peace is what they need more than anything else. Jesus often connects this greeting of peace with another gift—forgiveness. In today’s Gospel, this connection is made in the final verses.

Even as they hear Jesus’ greeting of peace, the disciples are startled and terrified. They are uncertain about what to make of the figure before them and, quite understandably, they mistake Jesus for a ghost. Yet the figure before them is not a ghost; Jesus invites them to experience his resurrected body with their senses, to look and to touch. The figure before them is flesh and bone, still bearing the marks of crucifixion. Although the disciples cannot forget his suffering and death, peace begins to take root in their hearts, as their fears turn to joy and amazement.

As further proof of his identity and of his resurrected body, Jesus eats with his disciples. The disciples have known Jesus best through the meals that he has shared with them. Descriptions of these meals are a defining element of Luke’s Gospel. By eating with his disciples after his Resurrection, Jesus recalls all these meals, and most importantly, he recalls the Last Supper.

Luke’s report of the Last Supper and the meals that Jesus shared after his Resurrection unveil for us the significance of the Eucharist. Having shared a meal with his disciples, Jesus now uncovers for them the significance of what was written about him in the Scriptures. So, too, our celebration of the Mass is an encounter with Jesus, through the Word and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. As Jesus commissions his disciples to be witnesses to what Scriptures foretold, our celebration of the Eucharist commissions us. Like the disciples, we are sent to announce the good news of Jesus’ forgiveness of sins.

Family Connection

Family life is strengthened through storytelling and shared meal times. In a similar way, Christian life is sustained by God’s word in Scripture and by Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. We are especially sustained in our faith through our weekly celebration of Mass. Today’s Gospel reading reminds us that the Scripture and the Eucharist are given to us so that our acts of bearing witness to Christ might be strengthened.

As you gather as a family, ask each person to share their favorite story about your family. Talk about the importance of these memories about your family life and the importance of the meals you have shared together as a family. Recall that these stories and meals strengthen the love you share. In a similar way, our Christian life is strengthened by sharing God’s Word and the Eucharist at Mass. Read together today’s Gospel, Luke 24:35-48. Discuss the mission that Jesus gave to his disciples after their shared meal. The Eucharist also sends us to be Christ’s witnesses in the world today. Conclude by praying together that we will be strengthened by God’s word and by Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist to be witnesses to Christ. Pray together Tantum Ergo or today’s psalm, Psalm 4.