The Easter Season celebrates Life and Growth…and there are two particular Scripture selections that powerfully proclaim the Life and Growth and Meaning that is ours in Jesus, Risen from the dead!
The first
selection, from the Acts of the Apostles, relates the ministry of Peter and
John as they went to the temple area to pray…after the Resurrection of
Jesus. They met a crippled man begging
for alms that would help him make it through the day. Peter looked intently at him and spoke to him: “…I have neither silver nor gold, but what I
do have I give you: in the name of Jesus
Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”
Peter helped the man stand up, and he started to walk around and even
leap…cured! Jumping and praising God!!! [Acts 3:1-10] New Life…in the name of
Jesus! I can hardly imagine the
intensity of feelings experienced by Peter, John, and the cured man.
And then of
course there's the Gospel selection that is a classic Easter story and the
inspiration for my blog: the disciples
meeting the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
The story unfolds: two disciples
walking along, trying to make sense of Jesus’ death and the “tale” of His body
missing from the tomb; unknowingly they meet Jesus on the road, who senses
their dejected spirit and asks them what they’re discussing as they walk along;
the conversation builds and Jesus shares with them “the rest of the story”; the
excitement builds, Jesus is invited to stay with them, and the disciples’ eyes
were opened as Jesus breaks bread and says the blessing – it’s Jesus! Their “hearts were burning” and they
set out at once, running to tell the other disciples the Good News: “The Lord has been raised!” [Luke
24:13-35] Again, what intense feelings
must have coursed through their beings as they met the risen Jesus and then ran
to tell the others!
The Risen
Jesus meets us on the road of life even this day…as we wander our streets and
shopping malls, trying to make sense of life today – with the prejudice and
violence that 50 years ago today led to Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination
and still plagues our streets, the selfishness and lack of respect for all
life, the sufferings of today’s sick and marginalized, etc. We too seek meaning and fresh encouragement —
and the risen Jesus shows us His sacred wounds and reminds us that there’s more
to life than suffering and death, that His death on Good Friday didn’t spoil
the weekend, that nothing is more powerful than God’s all-encompassing Love.
With the
depth of feelings shared by those early disciples and the man cured of his
disease, we too can proclaim: “We are
an Easter People – and “Alleluia” is our song.” (Pope Saint John Paul II)
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