Commentary on the liturgy 14 April 2024, III Easter Sunday (B)

1.On the evening of Easter Sunday, the liturgy placed for our meditation the page from Luke's gospel that narrates the return home of the disciples of Emmaus. Challenged and saddened by Jesus' death on the cross, but also perplexed by what was said about his resurrection, they were joined by a stranger, whom they later discovered to be the Risen One himself. They recognise him at the "breaking of the bread", and at that very moment he makes himself invisible. Heartened by his words and above all by his presence, the two wayfarers, - we know the name of only one of them, Cleophas - no longer tired and indeed full of joy, return to Jerusalem almost running, eager to share their extraordinary experience with their other friends. 

In this Sunday's gospel, Luke continues his account and narrates that while the two were commenting on their adventure with the other disciples, it is once again Jesus who makes himself present, greeting everyone with the same messianic wish: "Peace be with you!" Those present, however, "shocked and full of fear, thought they were seeing a ghost" and were incredulous and dismayed. Jesus then patiently leads them to verify that it is indeed him and for more concreteness asks them to share "a portion of roasted fish". He invites them to open their eyes and recognise him: I am the same Jesus who with you travelled the roads of Judea and Galilee proclaiming the gospel; you saw me die on the cross, but I have risen. If you remember, I had foretold all that happened; but now your heart is not ready to perceive that "all things written about me in the law of Moses, in the prophets and in the psalms must be fulfilled".  He adds that in my name "conversion and the forgiveness of sins will be preached to all peoples... and of this you are witnesses". The mission he entrusts to them will be to witness the gospel with their lives. He therefore insists on encouraging and sustaining their faith to prepare them to continue his own mission, when transformed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit they will become faithful witnesses of the gospel even to martyrdom. In the First Reading we already see the courage and clarity with which Peter proclaims the truth: 'You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead: we are witnesses'. 

This same mission today awaits the personal contribution of all: it is up to us to welcome it, recognise it and continue it. Yes, because the Risen One continues to call disciples who, thanks to baptism, become living members of the mystical body of Christ that is the Church, and full citizens of the new and eternal covenant. It is a mission that invests one's entire existence so that it becomes a gift to serve: it is not important what one does, but even more important is the awareness of the divine call to follow meekly wherever and however Divine Providence leads us. In the opening prayer of our celebration we prayed thus: "Open, Lord, our hearts to the understanding of the Scriptures, that we may become the witnesses of the new humanity, pacified in your love".

2. To better understand what our task should be, it is worth focusing on what the fulfilment of the ancient promises of which Jesus speaks consists. Let us imagine God as a sublime artist who has designed the most beautiful and precious work of art in the universe, of which he alone knows the secret: I refer to the work of universal salvation. Mother Trinitad de la Santa Madre Iglesia, founder of the Church Work, calls it 'God's Plan in the Church'. From 18 March 1959, during a whole month he received "in loving Wisdom all the truths of the faith, not to be a special person, but to be Church. Thus, in view of a mission in the Church, the Lord made her a witness to all the dogmatic wealth of the Creed, which appeared before her soul clear, full of light and with the command to be a witness and to manifest the beauty of the Church' (more precise references in footnote). From the very beginning of the creation of the universe, God was clear about this plan of wise mercy, but its manifestation and realisation has had a long journey through the millennia of history, marked by successive phases that mix days of light and dark nights. The "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father and God of all consolation" (2 Cor 3) was not discouraged even when mankind's unfaithfulness went to excess, but with patience and perseverance continued to perfect his divine Plan of cosmic renewal marked by wise mercy and infinite love. Yes, because this is a plan of love that, as the Apostle Paul writes, began before the foundation of the world. Throughout the Bible it has marked the steps of its progressive development and in the incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of Christ it finds its highest fulfilment.  

God has never forsaken His people and even now He continues to fulfil His plan in the Church so that in constant dialogue with humanity, believers may proclaim the presence of God the Father to all people of every race and culture. It is a task that challenges everyone, provoking us to understand the value and meaning of our mission as Christians in history and in our personal experience: the history of humanity, like that of each one of us, has a precise meaning and at the same time the same direction. We are part of a plan greater than ourselves, set on the path towards God's future and grafted into the mystical body of Christ that is the Church. The heart of this mission, which has sprung from the Most Holy Trinity, remains the presence of the invisible but real God in the sacrament of the Eucharist: the One God, the Most Holy Trinity and Infinite Mercy nourishes with Himself all those He calls to collaborate in His plan and sustains their journey amidst the travails of everyday existence with the power of His Holy Spirit. 

3. Only from the certain hope that God brings all his promises to fulfilment, and drawing light and life from the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, can the believer receive the necessary courage so that he never loses himself in the face of all kinds of difficulties and problems. There are many challenges and 'grave violations' of human dignity

that challenge the faith of Christians in our time. The recent document of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith "Dignitas infinita", which took five years to complete and includes the papal magisterium of the last decade, also speaks of this: from war to poverty, from violence against migrants to violence against women, from abortion to surrogate motherhood to euthanasia, from gender theory to digital violence. How to be signs of hope amidst so many battles against man created in the image and likeness of God? How can we accomplish a task far beyond our possibilities, knowing that, even in the poverty of our existences, with baptism we have not only become recipients, but participants and co-participants in God's Plan? Jesus rebuked the disciples for their difficulty in trusting and exhorted them to humble abandonment into the Lord's hands. Even today, in times of crisis with strong social changes, his invitation not to be carried away by the demon of fear and mediocrity resounds. The example of the martyrs and saints of every era clearly indicate that the believer does not waste time looking at his past with nostalgia and regret or criticising the increasingly problematic present. Rather, he feels that he is projected and drawn into the future illuminated by the divine promise: he knows that he is loved by God and that he must make this gratuitous and infinite Love known by becoming concrete love towards all with his life, when necessary, accompanied also by words. The liturgy, a daily catechesis, teaches us to contemplate the mystery of the God who walks with us; it makes him alive through the Word and exhorts us to adore him especially in the Eucharist. In every circumstance place on our lips and in our hearts the prayer that Jesus himself taught us: 'Our Father, thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven'.  No matter what happens, no matter what the course of events, it is useless to complain and get lost in sterile ideological battles, faith keeps us steadfast in the hope that God will bring his Plan to fruition thanks to even our smallest and humblest contribution.  This was well understood by the French poet Charles Péguy, who, when he discovered the beauty and joy of Christianity, wrote: 'There was the wickedness of the times even under the Romans, at that height of Roman rule. But Jesus did not withdraw at all. He did not retreat at all. [...] He had to do three years. He did his three years. But he did not waste his three years, he did not use them to whine and accuse the wickedness of the times. Yet there was the wickedness of the times, of his time. [...] He cut it (short). Oh, in a very simple way. By doing Christianity." (Charles Peguy). 

P.S. I will add some useful information for those who want to know more about the divine Plan as Mother Trinitad de la Santa Madre Iglesia, founder of the Church Work, received it. 'The Promise of the New Covenant realised by the will of the Father and the love of the Holy Spirit through the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of the White Virgin of the Incarnation, and perpetuated in Holy Mother Church throughout all ages', runs through the framework of the retreat: God's Plan in the Church. It is a four-day retreat that can totally transform lives and unveil new horizons in those who, with an open soul and a simple spirit, open themselves to God's action by listening to the talks and watching the videos of Madre Trinidad de la Santa Madre Iglesia. Mother Trinitad said: "It is necessary to present the Church in all its beauty, perfection and greatness to the gaze of all her children, so that they may recognise her as a Mother, as God's speaking to men, as the heart of the Trinity on earth, as an expression of the Infinite".

If you want, you can find everything by consulting the web page of The Work of the Church in different languages.

+Giovanni D'Ercole