Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (24: 35-48) in which Jesus stood among the ‘startled and frightened’ disciples saying to them ‘Peace with you’.

Yesterday, says Fr Paul, when we heard the Road to Emmaus story Jesus used the Eucharistic meal to reveal himself to the disciples.  The Eucharist is always a time for us to get to know the Risen Christ better.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals himself to a whole group of his disciples and the meeting is with a real person.  As we hear during the reading, Jesus goes to great lengths to explain to them that he is, in fact, real.  He is not a ghost.  That is why he says to them, ‘Look touch my hands and my feet’; that is why he says to them ‘give me something to eat’; it is stressing again, and again, that it is truly the Risen Jesus, not just some type of ghost or apparition.

Fr Paul notes at the end of this Gospel that, again, Jesus through the scriptures opens the minds of the disciples to everything that has happened, why it has happened, and how it has been fulfilled.  We hear in the last line of this Gospel, Jesus say, ‘You are witnesses to this’.

Today, like yesterday, for our reflection, we in our turn are witnesses to the Risen Christ.  We, like the disciples, are called to understand the scriptures, to open our minds to them, and to spread the good news that Christ is Risen!