Dear friends in Christ,

This Sunday'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 narrated by the disciples in the opening verse of today’s Gospel. Jesus greeted his disciples with the words, “Peace be with you”. This is a most appropriate greeting. The disciples have witnessed the death of Jesus whom they loved and followed. And now, they are in fear and anxious for their own lives as well. Peace is what they needed more than anything else. Jesus often connects this greeting of peace with another gift which is known as forgiveness. In today’s Gospel, this connection is made in the final verses.

Even though, they could hear Jesus’ greeting of peace, the disciples are certainly alarmed and shocked. They are unsure about what to make of the figure before them and, quite reasonably, they considered Jesus as ghost. Nevertheless, Jesus invited them to experience his resurrected body with their senses, to look and to touch. Then, they understood the figure before them was flesh and bone with the marks of crucifixion. Even though the disciples cannot forget his suffering and death, peace begins to spread in their hearts, as their fears turn to joy and amazement. As further proof of his identity and of his resurrected body, Jesus ate 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 reveal for us the significance of the Eucharist. Having shared a meal with his disciples, Jesus now unfolds for them the significance of what was written about him in the Scriptures. Thus, our celebration of the Holy Mass is an encounter with Jesus through the Word and the Sacrament of the Holy 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. Therefore, we shall not hesitate to believe in the presence of the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Instead with unwavering faith and love, let us proclaim Him to the whole world.