2nd Easter Sunday or Divine Mercy Sunday  [12 April 2026]

*First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (2:42–47)

Here is a glimpse of the very first Christian community, as Saint Luke loves to portray it in the Acts of the Apostles. On several occasions—four, in fact—he sketches, in just a few lines, a portrait of this kind; one might almost call them candid family snapshots. Taken together, these scenes paint a picture that seems almost idyllic of the lives of the early Christians: devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to prayer, they live in praise of the Lord and share everything in common, performing numerous healings along their path and continually welcoming new members… This does not prevent Luke from recounting, elsewhere, some very real difficulties faced by these same communities… Ananias and Sapphira, for example, who struggled to live out the sharing of goods to the full; and, even more seriously, the difficulties of coexistence between Christians of Jewish origin and Christians of pagan origin… One might then ask what message Luke wishes to convey to us by painting such beautiful, almost unreal portraits. This brings to mind the family photos from festive occasions that adorn the walls of our homes, the photo albums or the collages we love to look at. Clearly, the best images have been chosen; looking at them, we become aware of the beauty of our families and the joy of certain special days. For Saint Luke, this is certainly the case, but it is also much more: it is proof that the messianic times have arrived. The apostles became capable of living as brothers thanks to the gift of the Spirit. And this is all that the Spirit enables us to do: he who continues his work in the world and brings every sanctification to fulfilment (according to the splendid expression of the Eucharistic Prayer). This is the sign of the Spirit poured out upon the world by the Messiah: it is precisely what the prophets had promised. Brotherhood, peace, justice, and the abolition of evil are the values of the Kingdom of God that the Messiah was to establish, and of which the early Christians repeatedly set an example. This is the proof that Jesus is truly the long-awaited Messiah, the proof that he has poured out the Spirit of God upon the world. Then we understand the expression: “A sense of awe came over everyone”: it is wonder at the work of God. Luke tells us: see, my brothers and sisters, the first signs of the Kingdom are already here; this is what the Holy Spirit enables us to experience in our families, in our parishes and in our communities when we allow ourselves to be guided by him in the light of Easter. From Christ’s Resurrection a new humanity was born, one that grows slowly around and in the image of the Son of God. St Paul would say: look, we have truly risen! That is to say: we are truly living a new life; the old man (our former way of behaving) is dead. Luke, a converted pagan, marvels at the irresistible spread of the Gospel: ‘Every day the Lord added to the community those who were being saved.’ I note, in passing, that it is the Lord who brings new members into the community! What is asked of us? Perhaps, quite simply, to be true Christian communities, worthy of the name. For it is through its very concrete life that the community bears witness to the Resurrection of Christ: a life made up of sharing the Word and the bread, of prayer, of sharing all goods, all in joy! It is truly a world turned upside down! In particular, personal self-emptying and the sharing of all goods: this is something unachievable for ordinary people… unless they are indwelt by the Spirit of God, the one whom Christ himself has given them. Jesus had said: ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another. This is what will show the whole world that Jesus is alive; and this is what judges once and for all our quarrels and slander, our intolerance and divisions, our refusal to share. Naturally, we are not forbidden to draw from these beautiful portraits the criteria for assessing the quality of our communities (families, groups, Christian communities). It is a bit as if Luke were saying to us: let those who have ears to hear, hear! Because, after all, what we have heard is indeed a programme for Christian life; if I count correctly, there are four points: listening to the apostles’ teaching, living in fraternal communion (even to the point of sharing possessions), breaking bread and taking part in prayers. To conclude, it seems to me that the great Good News of this text is this: this new way of behaving, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is possible! Just as photos from festive occasions remind us of the possibilities for love within our families. But this may also prompt us to ask some questions: Luke notes that they were ‘persevering together’ in the temple and faithful in breaking bread in their homes with joy and simplicity of heart. Today we would say: they lived the Eucharist. This means at least three things: first of all, Sunday Mass is much more than an obligation; it is a vital necessity: the practice of the Eucharist is indispensable for each of us in the life of faith. Furthermore, and even more seriously, every time one of us does not take part in the Eucharist, it is the community itself that is deprived of one of its members. Finally, the third aspect: a community is severely disadvantaged when deprived of this regular nourishment; this clearly highlights the problem faced by so many Christian communities without a priest, sometimes for a very long time, whilst some parishes in our regions offer a wide choice of Mass times to meet all needs. We cannot help but admire the dynamism of the faith of those who know how to keep their communities alive despite the absence of a priest.

*Responsorial Psalm (117/118)  

 We have already sung this Psalm 117/118 during the Easter Vigil and on Easter Day itself. Indeed, every ordinary Sunday, it forms part of the Office of Lauds in the Liturgy of the Hours. This is hardly surprising: for the Jews, this psalm concerns the Messiah; for us Christians, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, we recognise in him the Messiah awaited throughout the Old Testament, the true King, the conqueror of death. It is therefore on this twofold level — that of Jewish expectation and Christian faith — that it must be considered. For the Jewish faith, it is a psalm of praise: indeed, it begins with the word Alleluia, which means ‘praise God’ and sets the tone for the whole; furthermore, it comprises twenty-nine verses and, throughout, the word ‘Lord’ (the tetragrammaton YHWH) or at least ‘Yah’, which is its first syllable, appears more than thirty times… and these are all expressions of praise for God’s greatness, God’s love, God’s work for his people… A veritable litany! This psalm of praise is intended to accompany a thanksgiving sacrifice during the Feast of Tabernacles, an important and joyful festival lasting eight days in autumn: we find traces of the joy of this festival in the text of the psalm itself. For example: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

During this festival, people dwell in tents for eight days, in remembrance of the tents of the Exodus after the departure from Egypt, to rediscover the meaning of the Covenant. Then there are numerous celebrations in the Temple of Jerusalem, and processions are held around the altar, waving branches and singing “Hosanna”, which means “Grant, Lord, grant salvation”; and as the expectation of the Messiah is very much alive in the spirit of this festival, the words “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” are repeated, as a sort of prayer to hasten his coming. Another significant rite was a grand and spectacular illumination of the Temple on the final evening. All these rites resonate in this psalm, provided one reads it in its entirety. For example, in other verses which we do not hear in the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Easter, it is proclaimed: ‘With branches in hand, form a procession to the altar… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”, “Say, the Lord enlightens us”, alluding to the illumination of the final evening. All this concerns words of praise, and these are the reasons: to speak of the history of Israel, the psalm recounts the story of a king who has just faced a merciless war and achieved victory. This king now comes to give thanks to his God for having sustained him. He says, for example: “They pushed me hard to make me fall, but the Lord helped me… and again, all the nations surrounded me: in the name of the Lord I defeated them… and again: I shall not die, I shall live and proclaim the works of the Lord”.  The speaker is therefore a king who has miraculously escaped all the attacks of hostile peoples; but in reality we know what to read between the lines: it is the story of the people of Israel. Many times, throughout its history, it has come close to annihilation; but each time the Lord has raised it up, and it celebrates this in the great Feast of Tabernacles: it sings “I shall not die, I shall live and proclaim the works of the Lord”. This role as a witness to the works of the Lord is Israel’s very vocation; and it is in the very awareness of this vocation that it has found the strength to survive all its trials throughout history. For us Christians, this psalm evokes a connection between the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which we commemorate on Palm Sunday. But above all, the joy that runs through this psalm is fitting for the Risen One on Easter morning! He is that victorious king and, on closer inspection, the evangelists, each in their own way, present him to us as the true king. Matthew, for example, constructed the episode of the Magi’s visit in such a way as to make us understand that the true king is not the one indicated by historians (Herod), but the child of Bethlehem… or John, who, in the account of the Passion, clearly presents Jesus as the true King of the Jews. Meditating on the mystery of this Messiah—rejected, despised, crucified—the apostles discovered a new meaning in this psalm: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’.  Jesus had already quoted it in the parable of the murderous vineyard tenants, showing that he is the cornerstone, rejected by the builders and become the foundation stone; that is, rejected by his own people, he became the foundation stone of the new Israel. He is truly ‘the one who comes in the name of the Lord’, as the psalm says: this very expression was used during his solemn entry into Jerusalem. Finally, we know that this psalm was sung in Jerusalem on the occasion of a thanksgiving sacrifice. Jesus, however, has just performed the sacrifice of thanksgiving par excellence! He takes the lead of the new Israel, which gives thanks to God his Father: and it is precisely this that characterises Jesus. His entire attitude towards the Father is one of thanksgiving, thus inaugurating the New Covenant between God and humanity: the one in which humanity is nothing other than a response of love to the Father’s love.

*Second Reading from the First Letter of Saint Peter the Apostle (1:3–9)          

 Some wonder whether Peter might have drawn here on a hymn sung during baptisms… We have no proof of this, but it is nonetheless an interesting hypothesis that may help us to understand this text better. Three stanzas are easily discernible, of which I offer a brief summary: First stanza (vv. 3, 4, 5): “Blessed be God…”. He has brought us to new life through the Resurrection of Christ, and now we live in faith and hope; as a well-known hymn says: God makes us, in Jesus Christ, free people. Second stanza (vv. 6 and 7): hope already makes us leap for joy, but we are still in the time of the testing of our faith. Third stanza (vv. 8 and 9): blessed are those who believe without having seen; our faith already gives us an inexpressible joy that transfigures us. The word ‘faith’ appears five times in these few lines. This is not surprising, given that we are in a baptismal celebration; and there is also an extraordinary joy, which he describes as inexpressible, despite the present trials (even though you must now be grieved for a little while by various trials, v. 6): here he is clearly addressing Christian communities living in a hostile world, probably persecuted, and this seems precisely to be the case for Peter’s audience. For convenience, I shall now take up the three verses one by one: “Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”: the form is Jewish, the content is Christian; beginning with a great blessing of God is typical of Jewish prayer; and it is certainly someone who has sung the psalms a great deal who is able to write such a text! But the content is Christian: in the Psalms, God is celebrated as the God of the Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… by now Revelation has taken a decisive step: God is known as the Father of Jesus Christ, and it is through Jesus Christ that he fulfils his plan for humanity. “God has brought us to new life through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ”: just as Jesus himself did in his conversation with Nicodemus, Peter speaks of baptism as a new birth, and this new birth has its source in the Resurrection of Christ; today, after well over two thousand years of Christianity, we are so accustomed to the phrase “Jesus Christ is risen” that perhaps we no longer feel its shock; but the early Christians experienced it as a true revolution: by now, for them, the face of the world had changed; as Paul says, the old world has passed away, a new one has been born (2 Cor 5).

Another theme typical of Paul is also very prominent in Peter: the tension between the present and the future: everything is already accomplished in the resurrection of Christ and so he speaks in the past tense: God has made us born again… everything is already decided, so to speak; yet everything remains yet to come: we are reaching out towards the salvation ready to be revealed in the last days, as Peter says. The word ‘salvation’ could be translated as life… which knows neither corruption, nor stain, nor decay; it could also be translated as liberation from all that is indeed corruption, stain, and decay. A salvation, a liberation already accomplished in Jesus Christ, but into which all humanity has not yet entered: and this is what remains to come.

It is the fact that everything is already accomplished from this moment that makes us leap for joy, as Peter says; the days when we are sad are perhaps those in which we lose sight of this great news of Easter: the good news that love and life are stronger than all hatred and death, even if in certain situations this certainty tends to fade and our faith is then put to the test! And the second verse puts it well: ‘You are being tested for a little while by various trials,’ says Peter. The rest of the letter gives a glimpse of the difficulties in question, probably the hostility encountered by these young Christians who appear marginalised in a pagan world.

The final verse takes up this theme of faith during the time of waiting; Peter had the privilege of knowing and spending a long time with Jesus Christ, but he addresses Christians who did not know him and explains to them the blessedness that Jesus had spoken of to Thomas: ‘Blessed are those who believe without having seen’, and he encourages them: You love him without having seen him; and without seeing him yet, you believe in him… and you rejoice with an ‘inexpressible and glorious’ joy. When he uses the expression ‘glorious joy’, Peter knows what he is talking about, he who had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration of Jesus: and on the faces of Christians he sees a reflection of the light that radiated from Jesus himself. Peter’s emphasis on the joy of Christians—a joy that is at once inexpressible and stronger than all passing trials—resonates today as a call to ensure that everyone can see the joy of our baptism on our faces, as a reflection of the transfigured Jesus. Traditionally, this Sunday was called ‘in albis’, meaning ‘in white garments’. Indeed, those newly baptised on Easter night wore their baptismal garments throughout the Easter week. And this Sunday represented for them a kind of feast of the baptised.

*From the Gospel according to John (20:19–31)

 It was after Jesus’ death, on the evening of the first day of the week, that is, Sunday. This is not merely a temporal detail that Saint John offers us, but rather a small yet significant sign. When John wrote his Gospel, some fifty years had already passed since the events—that is, since the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Fifty years during which Christians gathered every Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus; and so the message he wishes to convey is: ‘Do you understand, then, why we gather every Sunday?’ The gathering of Christians every Sunday was a characteristic of Christians within the Jewish world, and it was precisely to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. For the Jews, the first day of the week – Sunday – was a working day like any other, whilst the seventh day, the Sabbath (Shabbat), was a day of celebration, rest, assembly and prayer. Now, it was the day after the Shabbat that Jesus rose from the dead, and on several occasions he appeared alive to his apostles after the resurrection, always on the first day of the week: thus, for Christians, that day took on a special significance. This first day of the week appears as the first day of the new era: just as the Jews’ seven-day week recalled the seven days of Creation, so this new week, which began with Christ’s resurrection, was understood by Christians as the beginning of the new Creation. The disciples had locked the doors of the place where they were, out of fear of the Jews, when Jesus came and stood among them. John emphasises that the disciples are shut inside and afraid because, having killed the Master, they might well kill his disciples too. Yet this too highlights Christ’s freedom. Everything is locked up, but for him it is no problem: he has no need of bolts and, above all, he knows no fear! And, precisely for this reason, his first words are: ‘Peace be with you’! It was the customary Jewish greeting… yet it is still a surprising greeting after all that has happened! The fear, the anguish of the last few months before Jesus’ arrest, the horror of his passion and death, Thursday night, Friday, and that silence of the Sabbath, after Jesus had been laid in the tomb… Is it possible to be at peace as if nothing had happened? Yet, it is incredible but true: he is truly alive… and, to prove it, he shows his wounds, the permanent marks of the crucifixion. In this regard, it is specifically noted that the marks are still present in his hands, feet and side: the Resurrection does not erase our death. So, even though it may seem incredible, Saint John notes that the disciples rejoiced. What they are experiencing is unheard of! And, at this point, John continues: “Jesus said to them again: ‘Peace be with you’”. Now they can truly be at peace… not as if nothing had happened, but in spite of what has happened: because this peace of the Risen One goes far beyond anything that might happen. “Having said this, he breathed on them and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ‘Whose sins you forgive are forgiven; whose sins you retain are retained.’ The link between the gift of the Spirit and the mission of reconciliation is striking: in the Bible, the Spirit is always given for a mission. But ultimately, can there be any mission more important than reconciling people with God? Everything else flows from this. It is a command that Jesus gives: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Go and proclaim that sins are remitted, that is, forgiven. Be ambassadors of universal reconciliation. And if you do not go, the Good News, the gospel of Reconciliation, will not be proclaimed. Jesus says: “As the Father has sent me…”: from the very mouth of Jesus Christ, we have a summary of his entire mission, for it is as if he were saying: The Father has sent me to proclaim universal reconciliation, to proclaim that sins are forgiven, and that God does not keep a record of people’s sins; in other words, I have come to proclaim one thing alone: that God is all Love and Forgiveness. In turn, I send you on the same mission. Therefore, we must pay close attention: the only true sin, which is at the root of all others, is not to believe in or to reject God’s love: I therefore send you so that you may proclaim to all people God’s infinite love, that is, that God is infinite Mercy. But how can we make God’s love known? It is not enough to proclaim God’s mercy; one must ‘give one’s life’ for the ‘salvation’ of souls. When will we understand that this is the whole Gospel and how great our responsibility is? 

NB Please note: We must fully understand the phrase: ‘Whose sins you forgive are forgiven; whose sins you do not forgive are not forgiven’. I have been drawn into a structural and theological analysis which I share with you.  

Full Greek text with transliteration ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἀφέωνται αὐτοῖς· (an tinōn aphēte tas hamartias, apheōntai autois) ἄν τινων κρατῆτε, κεκράτηνται. (an tinōn kratēte, kekratēntai) Fluid translation of the verse: “Whose sins you forgive, they are already forgiven; whose sins you retain, they remain retained.”  The sentence is constructed in two parallel movements: ἀφῆτε (you forgive),  ἀφέωνται (they are already forgiven by God); κρατῆτε (you retain), κεκράτηνται (they are already retained)  Immediate emergence: visible action and divine reality.  Verbs of the apostles: ἀφῆτε / κρατῆτε  which are aorist subjunctive and signify: a precise and decisive act, a real event. b) The final verbs ἀφέωνται / κεκράτηνται are in the passive perfect tense and mean: an action already accomplished and already established by God, a lasting effect. Why does John use the aorist? He does not use the present tense because it does not indicate a continuous action, but the aorist, which means: “ At the moment you forgive or retain sins, a real and decisive act takes place” and the act of the apostles enters into God’s permanent, effective action. Theological consequences: Primacy of God: only God forgives. Role of the Church: to make visible, to apply forgiveness concretely, and sin is either removed or remains. Spiritual insight: Forgiveness is a real event, not a symbol, and the Church is a visible instrument, but the efficacy comes from God. Final summary: When the Church remits sins, a real and decisive act takes place in which the forgiveness that is already at work in God is manifested and made present; when she withholds them, it is evident that, unfortunately, that forgiveness has not been accepted. And here lies the problem: why is it not accepted? Forgiveness is neither an idea nor a process: it is an event of God, and the Church makes it visible. God always forgives us, and we are forgiven when we confess our sin with faith. God is infinite Mercy that never fails and desires that all may be saved; but it is necessary for man to welcome His gratuitous love into his heart. The Church is called to make this forgiveness visible every day, without ceasing, and every Christian is called to bear witness to and proclaim the forgiveness that is God’s absolutely gratuitous love, so that all may believe, welcome it and experience it in their own lives. In short: God forgives endlessly, and those who believe proclaim it and live it as the Gospel that enters their very being. I conclude with this message from Medjugorje, 2 March 1997: “Dear children! Pray for your brothers and sisters who have not come to know the love of God the Father, and for those for whom life on earth is more important. Open your hearts to them and see in them my Son who loves them. You must be my light: enlighten all souls in whom darkness reigns. Thank you for responding to my call.”

It depends on you, says Jesus to the apostles and today to us, that your brothers and sisters may come to know and experience God’s love and live in his mercy. God’s plan will be fully accomplished only when you, in turn, have completed your mission. In short, understand well: just as the Father sent me, so I send you. And you do not have much time to lose

+Giovanni D’Ercole

(Lk 24:35-48)

We do not recognize a person by hands and feet (v.39).

The Risen One has a life that escapes the perception of the senses, however the Resurrection does not cancel the ‘person’, but expands it.

The identity and the being that distinguishes it is of another nature, but the heart is that, characterizing. Love to the end: unsparing action [hands] and walk [feet], which non-faith marginalizes, humiliates, kills.

One does not grasp Christ outside the experience of sharing, witnessing, Mission - tip of the text - that extends among all people.

An evangelization starting from direct heralds and enthusiastic auctioneers. Centered ones in the nucleus of the Announcement, which moves everything and gives access (vv.35ff).

And finally, thanks to the intelligence of the Scriptures - which brings us out of commonplaces and vague interpretative automatisms.

All of this, in the specific listening and forgiveness that makes us participate; in the commitment that risks, walks, and talks.

The human plan of the Creator has assumed a pedagogical configuration in the Law; it was taken up, actualized and purified by the prophets, and sung in the psalms (v. 44).

But those who «see and touch» are disciples who involve themselves to the point of making their soul movements, their exoduses to the peripheries, and their passionate gestures, coincide with the own love wounds of the Master: «Palpate me and see» (v.39).

In the early days, believers - here and there - made it through thanks to the help of fraternities in which the Person of the Lord ‘manifested’ himself persuasively, because «in the midst» (v.36).

Not "on top" or "in front", but brother to brother: a testimony of the divine (v.48).

He ‘revealed’ himself as Living, in Conviviality - a key Word, climax of the entire Bible.

Sharing that also found the ways of sensitive, personal intimacy and confidence: «They handed him a portion» (v.42).

For this reason the Proclamation had to start from Jerusalem, the first of the «pagan peoples» [v.47 Greek text] in need of evangelization!

And thereby not making Christ a ghost (v.37).

In the early communities, listening to the personal and communal inner world was especially pronounced, because the direction of travel proposed by the Master seemed to be all backwards [in the opposite of institution].

Despite the chaos of external securities, the crossing fear-to-Freedom came from a tolerant perception - starting from visceral cores of experience.

The very bottlenecks accentuated change and internalization, and wrenched disciples out of the habit of setting up conformist harmonies.

One then relied more willingly on the tracks of the soul, thus meeting one's deep nature; new axis of life, starting from the ‘roots’.

The search for a new compass for one's paths, the loss of predictable references, social discomfort, all this made one in contact with oneself and others, authentically.

That feeling of anxiety, malaise and sores, allowed them to know their Calling... even if the external way they saw themselves and dealt with normal or spiritual existence, could already satisfy [the outside].

Having to move from the habits, no one escaped the most precious revelation anymore: of the primordial and humanizing intimacy deposited in the fraternity of the new crucified Way.

Educated by the paradox of narrowness, the uncertain apostles thus became step by step the seekers of a trace, of a more pertinent course.

Pilgrims of unexpected codes. «Witnesses» (v. 48): mothers and fathers  of a new humanity.

[Thursday between the Easter Octave, April 9, 2026]

He does not create a hierarchy

(Lk 24:35-48)

We do not recognise a person by hands and feet (v.39).

The Risen One has a life that escapes the perception of the senses, yet the Resurrection does not annul the person, but rather expands it.

The identity and being that distinguishes him is of another nature, but the heart is that, characterising. Love to the end: unsparing action [hands] and walk [feet], which non-faith marginalises, humiliates, kills.

One does not grasp Christ outside the experience of sharing, witnessing, mission - the point of the text - that extends among all men.

Evangelisation from direct heralds and enthusiastic proclaimers. Centred in the core of the Announcement, which stirs everything and gives access (vv.35-).

Finally, thanks to the intelligence of the Scriptures, which brings one out of commonplaces and vague interpretative automatisms.

In the specific listening and forgiveness that makes us participants; in the commitment that risks, walks, and speaks.

The human project of the Creator took on a pedagogical configuration in the Law. It was taken up, actualised and purified by the prophets, and sung in the psalms (v.44).

But the Conversion proposed by Christ is not a return to religiosity, but "change [of mind] into remission" (v.47).

The change of convictions and mentality is 'for the forgiveness of sins': that is, in overcoming the sense of inadequacy preached by the manipulative religious centre.

Its formal and empty directions prevent women and men from corresponding to their roots, character, vocation - to joy, to the fullness of personal fulfilment, to the great Desire that pulses within each one.

In Jesus, salvation history takes on and redeems the totality of the human: it becomes the privileged place of the true seal of the eternal Covenant between the Father and his children. Only in Him does our life go right.

This awareness formed the core of all the first liturgical signs, which in words and gestures expressed the attitude of gratuitousness and acceptance that animated belief.

Thus, also the multifaceted encounter; and the risk of the mission of Peace-Shalôm (v.36): Presence of the Messiah himself, actualised in the Spirit.

The Passover of the Lord gave meaning to the past of the people and was the foundation of freedom in love, in coexistence - for personal and ecclesial work.

Principle of new configurations. "Made" par excellence [in this sense Lk at vv.41-43 insists on the reality of the resurrection].

Here is the beginning, source and culmination of authentic history - in the very figure of the Eucharist as the Table of the "Fish" [acrostic abbreviation, in Greek, of the divine condition of the Son of Man].

In short, we are eyewitnesses, not gullible or victims of collective hallucinations.

In the Risen One we do not see projections of anguish and frustration converge; we do not look to him for compensation.

In the first years after the Master's death, some disciples actually defended themselves against sceptics by telling of apparitions.

The most convincing and genuine Manifestation of the Living One was actually the wisdom and quality of life expressed by the first communities.

Those who "see and touch" are those disciples who involve themselves to the point of finally making their motions of the soul, their exoduses towards the peripheries, and their passionate gestures, coincide with the Master's own wounds of love: "Palpate me and see" (v.39).

This points to an event and story of admirable light for all, which becomes extended history, from brother to brother.

He bears witness to weight, to the divine (v.48) - in the Yes of being, even undermined or destroyed by the archaic sacral society of the outside.

In the early days, believers - here and there - made it through the help of fraternities in which the Person of the authentic Messiah manifested himself persuasively, because he was "in the midst" (v.36).

Not "above" or "in front" - nor with ethics and dogmas.

Hence in the assemblies there should never have been any placemen (for life) who claimed to represent Him and had a title and place of prominence, while others were destined for the rear or subordinates (equally fixed).

All were to be equidistant from God: no privileged, no installed.

No one leading the ranks - or closer to the Lord, while others far away.

The Lord was revealed Living in conviviality - the key word, the apex of the entire Bible.

Sharing even in the summary, which found ways of sensitive, personal intimacy and trust: "They gave him a portion" (v.42).

The concrete and global perspective of the Cross as the source of Life was a transmutation of the haughty and distant sense of 'glory'.

Natural talents or not, those who represented the Risen One were always at hand: no chosen ones - zero those sent to the rear.

Even the first community tasks reflected the character of a Jesus who was shareable, spontaneous, accessible to everyone - at the centre and in a position of reciprocity.No whole-born, predestined, summit.

This is why the Announcement had to begin from the Holy City (v.47), configured to the opposite vitality - compromised, inert, omertosa; pyramidal, co-opted, and murderous of the prophets.

That of the Eternal City remained the first of the 'pagan peoples' [v.47 Greek text] to be evangelised!

Only a strong identity of stringent Faith, of Hope of Elsewhere and real Communion could convert her from sin and constitute a code for understanding the Scriptures.

And do not make Christ a ghost (v.37).

In the communities of the early days, listening to the personal and communal inner world was particularly pronounced, because the direction of travel proposed by the Master seemed to be all to the contrary.

Despite the chaos of external securities, the crossing from fear to Freedom came from a tolerant perception - from visceral cores of experience.

It was precisely the straits that accentuated the change, the internalisation, and wrenched the disciples out of the habit of setting up conformist harmonies.

One then relied more willingly on the tracks of the soul. Thus meeting one's own deep nature - a new axis of life, starting from the roots.

The search for an unprecedented compass for one's paths, the loss of predictable references, and social discomfort, put one in touch with oneself and others, in an authentic way.

Feeling the anxiety, the discomfort, and the sores, they let their own Calling be known - even though the external way in which they viewed and dealt with normal or spiritual existence was for them.

Having to move away from habits, they no longer escaped the most precious revelation: of the primordial and humanising intimacy deposited in the fraternal communion of the new crucified Way.

Educated by the paradox of straits, the uncertain apostles became step by step the seekers of a trace, of a more pertinent route; the pilgrims of unexpected codes.

"Witnesses" (v.48): fathers and mothers of a new humanity.

To internalise and live the message:

How do you experience the identity of the Risen Crucified One? And its Glory? Of what does your heart burn, and Who do you radiate?

Are you one who puts yourself at the head of the group? Or do you "with Jesus in the midst" contribute to the happiness of all?

Real Presence

Mutato, it does not erase the marks of the crucifixion

Today [...] we encounter - in the Gospel according to Luke - the risen Jesus who appears in the midst of the disciples (cf. Lk 24:36), who, incredulous and frightened, think they see a ghost (cf. Lk 24:37). Romano Guardini writes: "The Lord is changed. He no longer lives as before. His existence...is not comprehensible. Yet he is bodily, he understands ... all his life lived, the destiny he passed through, his passion and his death. Everything is reality. Albeit changed, but still a tangible reality' (The Lord. Meditations on the Person and Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Milan 1949, 433). Since the resurrection does not erase the marks of the crucifixion, Jesus shows the Apostles his hands and feet. And to convince them, he even asks for something to eat. Thus the disciples "offered him a portion of roasted fish; he took it and ate it before them" (Lk 24:42-43). St Gregory the Great comments that 'the fish roasted in the fire signifies nothing other than the passion of Jesus the Mediator between God and man. For he deigned to hide himself in the waters of the human race, accepted to be caught in the snare of our death, and was as it were placed in the fire for the pains he suffered at the time of his passion" (Hom. in Evang. XXIV, 5: CCL 141, Turnhout 1999, 201).

Thanks to these very realistic signs, the disciples overcome their initial doubt and open themselves to the gift of faith; and this faith enables them to understand the things written about Christ "in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms" (Lk 24:44). We read, in fact, that Jesus "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, 'Thus it is written, Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and in his name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached to all peoples... Of this you are witnesses'" (Lk 24:45-48). The Saviour assures us of his real presence among us through the Word and the Eucharist. Just as, therefore, the disciples of Emmaus recognised Jesus in the breaking of the bread (cf. Lk 24:35), so too do we encounter the Lord in the Eucharistic celebration. St. Thomas Aquinas explains in this regard that 'it is necessary to recognise according to the Catholic faith, that the whole Christ is present in this Sacrament... because the divinity has never left the body it assumed' (S.Th. III, q. 76, a. 1).

[Pope Benedict, Regina Coeli 22 April 2012].

As with a living

1. May the light of your face shine upon us, Lord! (Cf. Ps 4:7)

With such words the Church prays in today's liturgy. He asks for divine light. He asks for the gift of knowing the Truth. He asks for faith.

Faith is the knowledge of the Truth, which comes from the testimony of God himself.At the centre of our faith is the resurrection of Christ, through which God Himself bore witness to the Crucified One. The testimony of the Living God confirmed in the resurrection the truth of the Gospel, which Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed. He has confirmed the truth of all his works and words. He confirmed the truth of his mission. The resurrection gave the final and most complete expression of that messianic power, which was in Jesus Christ. Truly he is the one sent by God. And divine is the word that comes from his lips.

When, today, the third Sunday of Easter, we invoke: "Let the light of your countenance shine upon us, O Lord" (cf. Ps 4:7), we ask that through Christ's resurrection, faith may be renewed in us, illuminating the paths of our lives and directing them towards the Living God.

2. At the same time, the liturgy of today's Sunday shows us how this faith was built - and continues to be built - which, being a true gift from God, has at the same time its human dimension and form.

The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the main source of irradiation of this light, from which the knowledge of the Truth revealed by God develops in us. The knowledge and acceptance of it as divine truth.

To form the human dimension of faith, Christ himself chose witnesses of the resurrection from among men. These witnesses were to become those who from the beginning were bound to him as disciples, from among whom he alone had chosen the Twelve and made them his apostles.

To them too Jesus of Nazareth, to them who witnessed his death on the cross, he appeared alive after his resurrection. He spoke to them and in various ways convinced them of the identity of his person, of the reality of his human body.

"Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your heart? Look at my hands and my feet: it is indeed me! Touch me and see; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Lk 24:38-39).

Thus he spoke to them when "amazed and frightened they thought they saw a ghost" (Lk 24:37).

"But because for great joy they still did not believe and were astonished, he said, 'Have you anything to eat here?' They offered him a portion of roasted fish; he took it and ate it before them" (Lk 24:41-43).

Thus the host of resurrection witnesses was formed. It was the men who personally knew Christ, heard his words, saw his works, experienced his death on the cross, and afterwards saw him alive and conversed with him as with a living person after the resurrection.

3. When these men, the apostles and disciples of the Lord, having received the Holy Spirit, began to speak publicly about Christ, when they began to proclaim him to men (first in Jerusalem) they first referred to the commonly known facts.

You "handed him over and denied him before Pilate, while he had decided to set him free" - so said Peter to the inhabitants of Jerusalem - you instead denied the Holy and Righteous One, you asked for a murderer to be pardoned" (i.e. Barabbas)! (Acts 3:13-14).

From the events surrounding Christ's death the speaker moves on to the resurrection: "...you killed the author of life. But God raised him from the dead, and of this we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15).

Peter speaks alone - but at the same time he speaks on behalf of the whole apostolic college: "we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15). And he adds: "Now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders" (Acts 3:17).

4. From the description of the events, from the testimony of the resurrection, the apostle moves on to prophetic exegesis.

To such an exegesis of death and resurrection his disciples had been prepared by Christ himself.

We have proof of this in the encounter described in today's Gospel (according to Luke). The Risen One says to the disciples: "These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: all things written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44).

"... And he said: Thus it is written: Christ shall suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and in his name shall be preached to all nations repentance and forgiveness of sins, beginning from Jerusalem. Of this you are witnesses' (Lk 24:46-48).

And the evangelist adds: "Then he opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures" (Lk 24:45).

From Peter's speech taken from the Acts of the Apostles, which we read in today's liturgy, we see how effective this "opening of their minds" was.

Peter, after presenting the events connected with the death and resurrection of Christ, continues: "But God has thus fulfilled what he had foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would die. Repent therefore and change your lives that your sins may be blotted out..." (Acts 3:18-20).We find in these words of the apostle the clear echo of Christ's words: of the illumination, which the disciples experienced in their encounter with the Risen Lord.

This is how the faith of the first generation of Christ's confessors was built: of the generation of the apostles' disciples. It sprang directly from the declaration of the eyewitnesses of the Cross and Resurrection.

5. What does it mean to be a Christian?

It means: continuing to accept the testimony of the Apostles, eyewitnesses. It means: believing with the same faith, which was born in them from the works and words of the Risen Lord.

The Apostle John writes (this is the second reading of today's liturgy): "By this we know that we have known him (i.e. Christ) if we keep his commandments. He who says, "I know him" and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but he who keeps his word, in him the love of God is truly perfect" (1 John 2: 3-5).

The Apostle speaks of living faith. Faith is alive through works that conform to it. These are the works of charity. Faith is alive through the love of God. Love is expressed in the keeping of the commandments. There can be no contradiction between knowledge ("I know him") and the actions of a confessor of Christ. Only he who completes his faith with works remains in the truth.

Thus the Apostle John addresses the recipients of his first letter with the affectionate word "little children", and invites them "not to sin" (cf. 1 John 2:1). At the same time, however, he writes: 'But if anyone has sinned, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is a victim of atonement for our sins: not only for our own, but also for those of the whole world' (1Jn 2:1f).

John, the apostle and evangelist, proclaims in the words of his letter, written towards the end of the first century, the same truth that Peter proclaimed shortly after the Lord's ascension. This is the truth about conversion and the remission of sins by the power of Christ's death and resurrection.

6. What does it mean to be a Christian?

To be a Christian - today in the same way as then, in the first generation of Christ's confessors - means to continue to accept the testimony of the apostles, eyewitnesses. It means believing with the same faith, which was born in them from the works and words of Christ, confirmed by his death and resurrection.

We too, belonging to the present generation of confessors of Christ, must ask to have the same experience as the two disciples of Emmaus: "Lord Jesus, make us understand the Scriptures; may our hearts burn in our breasts when you speak to us" (cf. Lk 24:32).

Let the heart "burn"!: because faith cannot be just a cold calculation of the intellect. It must be vivified by love. Living through the works in which the truth revealed by God is expressed as the inner truth of man.

Then we too - even if we were not eyewitnesses of the works and words, death and resurrection - inherit from the Apostles their testimony. And we ourselves also become witnesses of Christ.

To be a Christian is also to be a witness to Christ.

7. Then also faith - living faith - is formed as a dialogue between the Living God and the living man; of this dialogue we find some expressions in the Psalm of today's liturgy: "When I call upon you, answer me, God, / my righteousness: / from anguish you have delivered me; / mercy on me, hear my prayer" (Ps 4:2). "...the Lord hears me when I call upon him. / Tremble and do not sin, / On your bed reflect and be appeased. / Offer sacrifices of righteousness / and trust in the Lord. / Many say, "Who will make us see the good?"Let the light of thy countenance shine upon us, O Lord; / Thou hast put more joy in my heart / than when wine and wheat abound; / In peace I lay me down, and straightway I fall asleep: / Thou alone, O Lord, in safety make me rest" (Ps 4:4-9).

And the psalmist himself adds: "Know that the Lord does wonders for his faithful" (Ps 4:4).

[Pope John Paul II, homily to Sts. Marcellinus and Peter 25 April 1982].

This day [...] in the Gospel according to Luke we meet the Risen Jesus who presents himself to the disciples (cf. Lk 24:36) who, startled and incredulous, think they are seeing a ghost (cf. Lk 24:37). Romano Guardini wrote: “the Lord has changed. He does not live as he lived previously. His existence cannot be understood. And yet it is corporeal, it encompasses... the whole of the life he lived, the destiny he passed through, his Passion and his death. Everything is reality. It may have changed but it is still tangible reality” (Il Signore. Meditazioni sulla persona e la vita di N.S. Gesù Cristo, Milan 1949, 433). As the Resurrection did not erase the signs of the Crucifixion, Jesus showed the Apostles his hands and his feet. And to convince them, he even asked for something to eat, thus the disciples “gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them” (Lk 24:42-43). St Gregory the Great comments that “the fish grilled on the flame means nothing other than the Passion of Jesus, Mediator between God and men. Indeed, he deigned to conceal himself in the waters of the human race, he accepted to be caught in the net of our death and was placed on the fire, symbolizing the pain he suffered at the moment of the Passion” (Hom. in Evang. XXIV, 5: CCL l 141, Turnhout 1999, 201).

It was by means of these very realistic signs that the disciples overcame their initial doubt and opened themselves to the gift of faith; and this faith enabled them to understand what was written on Christ “in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (Lk 24:44). Indeed we read that Jesus “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.... You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:45-48).

The Saviour assures us of his real presence among us through the Word and through the Eucharist. Therefore just as the disciples of Emmaus recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread (cf. Lk 24:35), so we too encounter the Lord in the Eucharistic celebration. In this regard St Thomas Aquinas explains that “it is absolutely necessary to confess according to the Catholic faith that the entire Christ is in this sacrament... since the Godhead never set aside the assumed body” (Summa Theologiae III, q. 76, a. 1).

[Pope Benedict, Regina Coeli 22 April 2012]

1. Shine upon us, Lord, the light of your face! (cf. Ps 4:7)

With such words the Church prays in today's liturgy. He asks for divine light. He asks for the gift of knowing the Truth. He asks for faith.

Faith is the knowledge of the Truth, which comes from the testimony of God himself.

At the centre of our faith is the resurrection of Christ, through which God Himself bore witness to the Crucified One. The testimony of the Living God confirmed in the resurrection the truth of the Gospel, which Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed. He has confirmed the truth of all his works and words. He confirmed the truth of his mission. The resurrection gave the final and most complete expression of that messianic power, which was in Jesus Christ. Truly he is the one sent by God. And divine is the word that comes from his lips.

When, today, the third Sunday of Easter, we invoke: "Let the light of your countenance shine upon us, O Lord" (cf. Ps 4:7), we ask that through Christ's resurrection, faith may be renewed in us, illuminating the paths of our lives and directing them towards the Living God.

2. At the same time, the liturgy [...] shows us how this faith was built - and continues to be built - which, being a true gift from God, has at the same time its human dimension and form.

The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is the main source of irradiation of this light, from which the knowledge of God's revealed Truth develops in us. The knowledge and acceptance of it as divine truth.

To form the human dimension of faith, Christ himself chose witnesses of the resurrection from among men. These witnesses were to become those who from the beginning were bound to him as disciples, from among whom he alone had chosen the Twelve and made them his apostles.

To them too Jesus of Nazareth, to them who were witnesses of his death on the cross, he appeared alive after his resurrection. He spoke to them and in various ways convinced them of the identity of his person, of the reality of his human body.

"Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your heart? Look at my hands and my feet: it is indeed me! Touch me and see; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Lk 24:38-39).

Thus he spoke to them when "amazed and frightened they thought they saw a ghost" (Lk 24:37).

"But because for great joy they still did not believe and were astonished, he said, 'Have you anything to eat here?' They offered him a portion of roasted fish; he took it and ate it before them" (Lk 24:41-43).

Thus the host of resurrection witnesses was formed. They were the men who personally knew Christ, heard his words, saw his works, experienced his death on the cross, and afterwards saw him alive and conversed with him as with a living person after the resurrection.

3. When these men, the apostles and disciples of the Lord, having received the Holy Spirit, began to speak publicly of Christ, when they began to proclaim him to men (first in Jerusalem) they first referred to the commonly known facts.

You "handed him over and denied him before Pilate, while he had decided to set him free" - so said Peter to the inhabitants of Jerusalem - you instead denied the Holy and Righteous One, you asked for a murderer to be pardoned" (i.e. Barabbas)! (Acts 3:13-14).

From the events surrounding Christ's death the speaker moves on to the resurrection: "...you killed the author of life. But God raised him from the dead, and of this we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15).

Peter speaks alone - but at the same time he speaks on behalf of the whole apostolic college: "we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15). And he adds: "Now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders" (Acts 3:17).

4. From the description of the events, from the testimony of the resurrection, the apostle moves on to prophetic exegesis.

To such an exegesis of death and resurrection his disciples had been prepared by Christ himself.

We have proof of this in the encounter described in today's Gospel (according to Luke). The Risen One says to the disciples: "These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: all things written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44).

"... And he said: Thus it is written: Christ shall suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and in his name shall be preached to all nations repentance and forgiveness of sins, beginning from Jerusalem. Of this you are witnesses' (Lk 24:46-48).

And the evangelist adds: "Then he opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures" (Lk 24:45).

From Peter's speech taken from the Acts of the Apostles, which we read in today's liturgy, we see how effective this "opening of their minds" was.Peter, after presenting the events connected with the death and resurrection of Christ, continues: "But God has thus fulfilled what he had foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would die. Repent therefore and change your lives that your sins may be blotted out..." (Acts 3:18-20).

We find in these words of the apostle the clear echo of Christ's words: of the illumination, which the disciples experienced in their encounter with the Risen Lord.

Thus the faith of the first generation of Christ's confessors was built: of the generation of the apostles' disciples. It sprang directly from the declaration of the eyewitnesses of the Cross and Resurrection.

5. What does it mean to be a Christian?

It means: continuing to accept the testimony of the Apostles, eyewitnesses. It means: believing with the same faith, which was born in them from the works and words of the Risen Lord.

The Apostle John writes (this is the second reading of today's liturgy): "By this we know that we have known him (i.e. Christ) if we keep his commandments. He who says, "I know him" and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but he who keeps his word, in him the love of God is truly perfect" (1 John 2: 3-5).

The Apostle speaks of living faith. Faith is alive through works that conform to it. These are the works of charity. Faith is alive through the love of God. Love is expressed in the keeping of the commandments. There can be no contradiction between knowledge ("I know him") and the actions of a confessor of Christ. Only he who completes his faith with works remains in the truth.

Thus the Apostle John addresses the recipients of his first letter with the affectionate word "little children", and invites them "not to sin" (cf. 1 John 2:1). At the same time, however, he writes: 'But if anyone has sinned, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is a victim of atonement for our sins: not only for our own, but also for those of the whole world' (1Jn 2:1f).

John, apostle and evangelist, proclaims in the words of his letter, written towards the end of the first century, the same truth that Peter proclaimed shortly after the Lord's ascension. This is the truth about conversion and the remission of sins by the power of Christ's death and resurrection.

6. What does it mean to be a Christian?

Being a Christian - today in the same way as then, in the first generation of Christ's confessors - means continuing to accept the testimony of the apostles, who were eyewitnesses. It means believing with the same faith, which was born in them from the works and words of Christ, confirmed by his death and resurrection.

We, too, belonging to the present generation of confessors of Christ, must ask to have the same experience as the two disciples of Emmaus: "Lord Jesus, make us understand the Scriptures; may our hearts burn in our breasts when you speak to us" (cf. Lk 24:32).

Let the heart "burn"!: because faith cannot be just a cold calculation of the intellect. It must be vivified by love. Living through the works in which the truth revealed by God is expressed as the inner truth of man.

Then we too - even if we were not eyewitnesses of the works and words, death and resurrection - inherit from the Apostles their testimony. And we ourselves also become witnesses of Christ.

To be a Christian is also to be a witness to Christ.

7. Then also faith - living faith - is formed as a dialogue between the Living God and the living man; of this dialogue we find some expressions in the Psalm of today's liturgy: "When I call upon you, answer me, God, / my righteousness: / from anguish you have delivered me; / mercy on me, hear my prayer" (Ps 4:2). "...the Lord hears me when I call upon him. / Tremble and do not sin, / On your bed reflect and be appeased. / Offer sacrifices of righteousness / and trust in the Lord. / Many say, "Who will make us see good?"Let the light of thy countenance shine upon us, O Lord; / Thou hast put more joy in my heart / than when wine and wheat abound; / In peace I lay me down, and straightway I fall asleep: / Thou alone, O Lord, in safety make me rest" (Ps 4:4-9).

And the psalmist himself adds: "Know that the Lord does wonders for his faithful" (Ps 4:4).

[Pope John Paul II, homily to Sts. Marcellinus and Peter 25 April 1982]

At the centre [...] there is the encounter with the Risen One experienced by his disciples, all together. This is evidenced especially by the Gospel which introduces us once again to the Upper Room, where Jesus manifests himself to the Apostles, addressing this greeting to them: “Peace to you” (Lk 24:36). It is the greeting of the Risen Christ, who gives us peace: “Peace to you!”. It is a matter of both inner peace and the peace that is established in interpersonal relationships. The episode recounted by Luke the Evangelist rests heavily on the realism of the Resurrection. Jesus is not a spirit. Indeed, it is not about an apparition of Jesus’ spirit, but of his real presence with his risen body.

Jesus realizes that the Apostles are unsettled in seeing him, that they are bewildered because the reality of the Resurrection is inconceivable to them. They believe they are seeing a spirit; but the Risen Jesus is not a spirit; he is a man with body and soul. This is why, in order to convince them, he says to them: “See my hands and my feet” — he shows them his wounds — “that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have” (v. 39). And since this did not seem enough to overcome the disciples’ disbelief — the Gospel says something interesting: there was so much joy they had within that this joy prevented them from believing it: ‘No, it cannot be! It cannot be so! So much joy is not possible!’. And Jesus, in order to convince them, asks them: “Have you anything here to eat?” (v. 41). They offer him some broiled fish; Jesus takes and eats it in front of them, in order to convince them.

Jesus’ insistence on the reality of his Resurrection illuminates the Christian perspective of the body: the body is not an obstacle nor a prison of the soul. The body is created by God, and mankind is not complete if there is no union of body and soul. Jesus, who has triumphed over death and risen in body and soul, helps us to understand that we must have a positive idea of our body. It can become an occasion or instrument of sin, but sin is not provoked by the body, but rather by our moral weakness. The body is a wondrous gift from God, intended, in union with the soul, to express in fullness the image and likeness of Him. Therefore, we are called to have great respect and care for our body and that of others.

Any offense or wound or violence to the body of our neighbour is an affront to God the Creator! My thoughts go, in particular, to the children, the women, the elderly who are physically abused. In the flesh of these people we find the Body of Christ. Christ wounded, mocked, slandered, humiliated, scourged, crucified.... Jesus taught us love. A love that, in his Resurrection, is demonstrated to be more powerful than sin and death, and seeks to redeem all those who experience in their own body the slavery of our time.

In a world where too often self-importance prevails over the weakest and materialism stifles the spirit, today’s Gospel passage calls us to be people capable of looking deeply, full of wonder and great joy at having encountered the Risen Lord. It calls us to be people who know how to welcome and appreciate the novelty of life that He sows in history, in order to direct it toward new heavens and the new land. May we be sustained in this journey by the Virgin Mary, to whose maternal intercession we entrust ourselves with faith.

[Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 15 April 2018]

(Lk 24:13-35)

After first persecutions (64), the bloody civil war in Rome (68-69) and the destruction of Jerusalem’s Temple (70), the empire rebels tended to decrease - together with the second generation Christians, direct witnesses of the Apostolic teaching.

In this reality, completely new and threatened by the danger of routine, perhaps more than a dozen years after the fall of Masada (73), Lk draws up a Gospel for converted Hellenists - but educated to the ideal of a ‘Greek man’.

Its purpose was to put a stop to defections, encourage new faithful, allow those who were culturally distant to have a living experience of the Lord.

The Risen One has a Life that is no longer subject to the senses, because Full.

Now it is the community that manifests Him Present [or - unfortunately - useless and absent].

Conditioned by a false vision inoculated by bad teachers and pagan values, the disciples still felt bewildered in the face of “failure”.

The expectations of religion, of philosophies, of life in the empire, made them gloomy and disoriented during the tests of Faith.

Everyone was waiting for the «divine man»: ruler, possessor, revered, avenger, titled and super-affirmed. Able to drag his associates to the same “fortune”.

Lk overturns the banal perspective, because within each of us there is an innate wisdom, sometimes suffocated by external ideas, but different.

Only another intelligence of the Holy Scriptures that still resound full of critical prophecy - warms our hearts and makes us recognizable in Christ.

Wisdom that is combined with the quality of life experienced in a multifaceted and indigent fraternity, but which does not abandon anyone.

In fact, in the authentic church, the synergy of differences and opposite sides configures a ‘new covenant’; opens the eyes to all, intensely manifesting the Son.

And the Risen One does not cling to the latest arrivals in a paternalistic way (vv.28.31) but calls with confidence to reinterpret Him in love, without borders and identified roles.

His Presence in spirit and deed allows anyone a coined-broken life caliber without prior conditions of completion.

Hence the Return (v.33) and personal Announcement (v.35), instead of indifference or flight.

The passage from Lk is one of the most profound testimonies of the Passover of Jesus.

The tragedy of the Cross frightens, so does failure. But we do not frankly meet the Lord as an executioner, or in the fervor of a victorious war.

Christ is not a colonel. Liberator yes.

The new dreamed order will not be artificial, procedural, external; nor achieved with military triumph: it would disown Him.

We meet the Risen One outside the tomb, we grasp Him on a journey and in the authentic meaning of the «living Scriptures»; in the «Bread breaking» that illuminates the sense of ecclesial life.

We personally «see» the ‘Son raised’, building up the new community of disciples that blossom because of the reverses - so that the sisters and brothers can also meet with Easter.

Apostles not lost in history.

In their «incessant beginning» there is a ‘discovery’ and something special, abnormal, irrepressible; that lays continuous foundations.

To internalize and live the message:

When have you experienced a Jesus who gently approaches and takes your step? Is the Cross a catastrophe for you?

[Wednesday between the Easter Octave, April 8, 2026]

Especially in this Octave of Easter the liturgy invites us to meet the Risen One personally and to recognize his life-giving action in the events of history and in our daily lives. This Wednesday, for example, the moving episode of the two disciples of Emmaus is presented to us once again (cf. Lk 24: 13-35). After Jesus' crucifixion, immersed in sadness and disappointment, they were going home dejected. On their way, they discussed the events that had occurred in those days in Jerusalem; it was then that Jesus approached and began to talk to them and teach them: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Lk 24: 25-26). Then starting with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. Christ's teaching - the explanation of the prophecies - was like an unexpected revelation to the disciples of Emmaus, enlightening and comforting. Jesus gave them a new key for interpreting the Bible and everything then appeared clear, oriented to that very moment. Won over by the words of the unknown wayfarer, they invited him to stop and have supper with them. And he accepted and sat down to table with them. The Evangelist Luke says: "When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them" (Lk 24: 30). And it was at that very moment that the eyes of the two disciples were opened and they recognized him, but "he vanished out of their sight" (Lk 24: 31). And full of wonder and joy they commented: "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" (Lk 24: 32).

Throughout the liturgical year, particularly in Holy Week and Easter Week, the Lord walks beside us and explains the Scriptures to us, makes us understand this mystery: everything speaks of him. And this should also make our hearts burn within us, so that our eyes too may be opened. The Lord is with us, he shows us the true path. Just as the two disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, so today, in the breaking of the bread, let us too recognize his presence. The disciples of Emmaus recognized him and remembered the times when Jesus had broken the bread. And this breaking of the bread reminds us of the first Eucharist celebrated in the context of the Last Supper, when Jesus broke the bread and thus anticipated his death and Resurrection by giving himself to the disciples. Jesus also breaks bread with us and for us, he makes himself present with us in the Holy Eucharist, he gives us himself and opens our hearts. In the Holy Eucharist, in the encounter with his Word, we too can meet and know Jesus at this two-fold Table of the Word and of the consecrated Bread and Wine. Every Sunday the community thus relives the Lord's Passover and receives from the Saviour his testament of love and brotherly service. Dear brothers and sisters, may the joy of these days strengthen our faithful attachment to the Crucified and Risen Christ. Above all, may we let ourselves be won over by the fascination of his Resurrection. May Mary help us to be messengers of the light and joy of Easter for all our brethren. Once again, I wish you all a Happy Easter.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 26 March 2008]

2. Dear brothers and sisters! We too, at this hour, pray to the Lord: "Stay with us, for it is becoming evening and the day is already drawing to a close" (Lk 24:29). May this invitation that the disciples of Emmaus address to the Lord guide our festive liturgy today; indeed, the Gospel of this third Easter Sunday leads us on the road to Emmaus. This place is of great importance in the context of the Easter events: it is a place of encounter with Christ, a place of the apparition of the risen Lord.

In the interpretation of the Old Testament peoples, the Passover feast commemorates the "passage" of the Lord, the exodus of the Israelites from the "house of bondage" of Egypt on the way to the promised land. God himself leads, liberates and saves his people. At the beginning of this exodus there had been the sign of the lamb: its blood would mark the houses of the Israelites and save their inhabitants from the punishment of death; its flesh refreshed the Israelites at the last supper before departure.

Animated by this faith of their people, the two disciples of Emmaus had participated in the Passover feast of the Jews of Jerusalem, and had also witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. When, on the way back, the Lord had appeared to them without them immediately recognising him, he explained to them how the paschal feast of the new covenant had been foretold in the events of the Old Testament; namely, in the exodus from bondage to freedom. This exodus is now fulfilled in the passage from death to life, from sin to friendship with God. And this again happens with the help of a lamb: the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Moses and the prophets, even the whole of Scripture, already speak of him and his destiny. That is why the risen Lord could rightly ask: "Did not Christ have to endure these sufferings in order to enter into his glory?" (Lk 24:25f.).

3. Indeed, many statements in the Old Testament predict the events of the Last Supper and Golgotha. These announcements, however, would not have been fulfilled if the paschal events had not taken place at the time and in the manner predetermined by God in Jerusalem. And in spite of all this, Jesus' disciples did not immediately recognise the dramatic and touching event they experienced with their Master during the Passover feast of the Jews in its true meaning and deepest truth. They found it difficult to "believe the word of the prophets" (Lk 24:25f.). This truth was so difficult to recognise for them, who were accustomed to a different understanding of the sacred Scriptures. Why should the Messiah have suffered, been condemned and died on the cross, been despised and mocked as an outcast? Thus, at first, they are as if blinded, discouraged and sad, as if paralysed.

For man it is and will always remain incomprehensible why the way to salvation must pass through suffering. This is why the encounter on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus is so significant; not only in relation to the Easter events of that time, but for all time - also for us. On this path, the disciples learned from Jesus a new way of reading the sacred scriptures and discovering in them a prophetic testimony about him, a prediction about him, his message and his mission of salvation. Through this teaching, the disciples are instructed by the Lord himself to become his witnesses. Thus Peter, in today's liturgy, bears witness to the Lord's resurrection from this new, deeper understanding of the Easter event before men. In this light of Christ, of the Risen One, he also understands and announces David's psalm: "For you will not forsake my soul in hell" (Acts 2:27).

When Jesus reveals the true meaning of the sacred Scripture to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the apostles who are in Jerusalem already know, that this psalm has been concretely realised: "Truly the Lord is risen and has appeared to Simon" (Lk 24:26).

4. The encounter on the road to Emmaus is also of great importance because in this way Jesus emphasised to his disciples, after his death on the cross, that he remains with them. He is with them in spite of or precisely because of the Friday passion and will remain with his Church forever according to his promise: "I will not leave you orphans I will return to you" (Jn 14:18).

Christ is not only who he was, but much more who he is. He was present on the road to Emmaus, and he is also present on all the paths of the world, along which his disciples walk, across generations and centuries.

5. Dear brothers and sisters! From the encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, new light descended for the two disciples on the sacred Scriptures and the events of Calvary, new light descended in the darkness of their own lives. Light also descends on the history and destinies of humanity and the Church, and thus also on the Church in Augsburg. Christ showed how the Messiah "had" to suffer, in order to fulfil his saving mission. Is it not true that it is precisely in this light that we are sometimes able to see and understand the darkness and suffering that Christ's disciples and the Church have faced on their journey through history? Through it we are often able to recognise, in trials and sufferings, the good and caring hand of God, which through the experience of the cross leads us to salvation and resurrection.

[Pope John Paul II, homily in Augsburg 3 May 1987