First Reading
Acts of the Apostles 3:13-15, 17-19
Peter said to the people: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.”
Second Reading
1 John 2:1-5a
My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.
Gospel Cycle Cycle B
Luke 24:35-48
The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Today’s readings continue to deepen our understanding of the death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord. They also help us understand the response of the early Christians to this incredible happening and can help us respond in our daily lives to Christ’s Resurrection.
The Acts of the Apostles in the reading for today speaks about Peter trying to preach to others about the events of the life, death and resurrection of the Lord. It does not always work to tell others that they have killed someone and should repent. It does not always change people to tell them that they are in sin and need to repent. Only God’s grace can bring about the inner change that is necessary for true repentance. Yet the early Church felt constrained to preach the truth, clearly with love, but clearly the truth.
The reading from the First Letter of Saint John is also clear that the Righteous One is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. Today’s world is not different from that of our ancestors. It is not easy for us to admit that we are sinners and that there is sin in the world. Today we speak of mistakes, of faults, of misunderstandings—but sin is a reality that is still unpopular, even though we are all sinners.
The Gospel from Luke brings us back to the reality that we can only understand Jesus Christ if we begin to understand the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament. Somehow even today we shy away from really wanting to know the Old Testament. It has lots of images that leave us uneasy. We might be happy with an edition that left out all the difficult parts, but that would not help us understand Jesus as the Christ.
So today, my sisters and brothers, we are invited to look into our hearts and to know that we need salvation. We are invited to recognize that our own choices against God are part of the sins in our world. We can then accept that Jesus came to die for us and for our sins and that in Him we are redeemed. All of this becomes more profound the more we understand Jesus as our Lord through understanding the Jewish Scriptures.
This is not an easy road! To follow Christ and to know Him is not about making us feel good. It is about being saved by the Man-God who took on our nature so that He could share the nature of God with us. Alleluia! That is an incredible message of hope and love. Let us rejoice because Christ is risen!