Today Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (24: 35-48) in which Jesus comes among the disciples and says to them, “Peace be with you.”

Fr Paul says in the previous Gospel reading the two disciples had met Jesus on their way to Emmaus. There Jesus had used the Eucharistic meal to reveal himself to them, for the Eucharist is always an occasion for us to get to know the Risen Christ better.

Now he meets the whole group of disciples in their refuge, the Upper Room. The stress is on their meeting with a real person, not a ghost or phantom but a real person. This is why Jesus eats a piece of fish in front of them.

With this Gospel in mind, Fr Paul invites us to reflect that we, too, are called to be witnesses of the risen Christ just like the disciples were.