FIRST READING
“You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.”
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 3: 11-26)
In those days: While the lame man who had been cured clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s, astounded. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people, “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. ’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came afterwards, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God gave to your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your posterity shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 8:2ab and 5.6-7a.7b-9 (R. 2ab)
R/. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth!
Or: Alleluia.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic
is your name through all the earth!
What is man that you should keep him in mind,
the son of man that you care for him? R.
Yet you have made him little lower than the angels;
with glory and honour you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hands. R.
You put all things under his feet,
all of them, sheep and oxen,
yes, even the cattle of the fields,
birds of the air, and fish of the sea
that make their way through the waters. R.
ALLELUIA Psalm 118:24
Alleluia. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 24:35-48)
At that time: The two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus and how Jesus was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
We know the risen Christ, not merely from the historical facts on Jesus of Nazareth. The mystery of the Resurrection is the mystery of life, and it opens itself to those who are ready to be converted. The resurrection is the source of the prodigious power which renews and heal human beings. To believe in the resurrection is to follow Christ. His way to the resurrection was that of suffering. And so will our way to the risen life, too. To live the resurrection is to enter into his itinerary, to walk his way, to pass with him from death to life. This calls for conversion from ourselves to him. Conversion is faith and a gift of God. The one who believes in Christ has already risen with him and is a witness of his resurrection.