Message of the Day
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"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there." - Clarence W. Hall
(What questions about truth invite your consideration these days?)
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Readings of the Day
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Acts 3:1-10; Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4,
6-7, 8-9 Lk 24:13-35
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called
Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of
them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to
them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the
people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides
all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his
Body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what
referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with
us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the
blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered
together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how
he was made known to them in the breaking of the
bread.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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"The people saw him moving and giving praise to God.” —Acts 3:9
The Lord told
the prophet Ezekiel to wade through fields of dry bones (Ez 37:1ff). These bones represented the state of the chosen people, Israel. Then, the Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones. The bones began to rattle. This symbolized the Israelite nation beginning to rise from the dead. When something moves that can’t move, it may be a sign of the Resurrection.
Sts. Peter and John healed a forty-year-old man who
had been paralyzed from birth (Acts 3:7; 4:22). When this man who couldn’t move moved, ran, and jumped, it was a sign of the Resurrection.
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were mentally and spiritually paralyzed. Jesus said they had “little sense” and were slow to believe (Lk 24:25), but soon afterward their hearts burned and their eyes were opened (Lk 24:31-32). This interior movement was a sign and
experience of the Resurrection. They ran back to Jerusalem to tell the Good News.
Which bones need to rattle in your life? In what ways are you paralyzed? What doesn’t move in your life? When you make a move to speak up for Jesus for the first time on your job, start praying with your spouse as never before, go to Confession for the first time in a long time, move away from staring at the TV, avert your eyes
from your handheld electronic device, go to Mass during the week, read the Bible daily, etc., these movements are signs of Jesus’ Resurrection. Get moving!
Prayer: Father, move me.
Promise: “Then they recounted what had happened on the road and how they had come to know Him in the breaking of bread.” —Lk
24:35
Praise: Praise the risen Jesus, Who brings healing and life (Jn 10:10).
Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Three, Gift of the Spirit Chapter 3: The Coming of the
Spirit - Selected quotes Receiving the Gift
The New Testament leaves little doubt concerning the reality of a reception of the Holy Spirit. It is a real experience! Everywhere we read of the
coming of the Spirit, there are always signs that accompany Her reception, the most visible being exuberant praise and glory to God, often in a new or mysterious language (the gift of tongues, or glossalalia). Recipients also prophesy, speaking God’s word of truth to one another, and generally show signs of boldness in speaking of what God has done in Christ. Paul seems to take it for granted that the people he writes to had an experience of the Holy Spirit, as he often reminds them
of this Gift and encourages them to remember what it was like when the Spirit was given to them. This was a clear and distinctive “event” in the life of Christian faith, signifying the reality of God’s life in the soul and new life in Christ.
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