The two disciples are telling the apostles what happened to them at Emmaus and suddenly Jesus appears among them. They are all frightened and think he is a ghost. Christ has to show them his wounds. He has risen with the same body with which he died, although now he is glorious. The physical Resurrection of Christ is at the heart of our faith: it is not a metaphor.
As St. Paul said: "If Christ is not risen, our preaching is in vain and your faith is also in vain.". It is fashionable to deny the real Resurrection of Christ, claiming that he did not literally rise from the dead. But we believe that the Resurrection of Christ is real and bodily: Jesus can eat and be touched, although, yes, his glorious body also has spiritual powers, among them the ability to be where he wants when he wants, to go through doors, to appear and disappear suddenly, and to hide or reveal himself at will.
Jesus eats in the presence of the apostles and their fear and doubts turn into joy. Once again he refers them to the Scriptures: "And he said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was with you, that everything written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms about me must be fulfilled.'. Then he opened their understanding to comprehend the Scriptures.". We might ask ourselves: do I need to have my mind opened? We all like to think we have an open mind. And yet, when it comes to the Word of God, we often close ourselves off.
We move from contact with Christ in his word in Scripture to contact with Christ in his body in the Eucharist. Both help us to have real contact with the risen Jesus, to see him as more than a ghost. He is not just a memory, he is real, he is alive, triumphant today.
"You are witnesses of this". It is we who must bring to our contemporaries the good news of Christ's saving death and glorious Resurrection. As Mary ardently carried the Word of God incarnate to Elizabeth and proclaimed it with such enthusiasm".My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."We could ask him to help us to catch some of his fire. And even more so when we now touch and carry the glorious body of Jesus that we receive in the Eucharist.
The homily on the readings of Sunday III of Easter (B)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
