Recognizing the Risen Lord (3rd Sunday Easter B)

Master:  When do you know that it is the end of the night and the beginning of the day?

Disciple: When I can see the trees and distinguish one kind from the others.

Master:  No quite.

Disciple: When I can see the animals and distinguish a goat from a sheep.

Master:  No.

Disciple:  Sorry, my Master. I don’t seem to have the answer. Would you tell me please, when is the end of the night and the beginning of the day?

Master:  It is when you can recognize in every person you meet a brother or a sister.

* * *

We may ask a similar question: When is the end of the darkness of Good Friday and the beginning of the light of Easter? Our readings today point us to this answer:  It is when we recognize the presence of the risen Lord in every “breaking of the bread” and in every experience of the forgiveness of sins.

The Risen Lord in the Breaking of the Bread.  The gospel reading today (Lk 24:35-48) starts with the report of the two disciples who hurried back from Emmaus and recounted what transpired on their way there and how they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.  Their recognition of the risen Lord through the act of breaking bread may be seen as a fulfilment of Jesus’ last supper wish: Do this in remembrance of me.

This reminds us that the celebration of the Eucharist, the present form of the breaking of the bread, has a memorial dimension.  But this does not mean a simple recalling of the past event as history.  The mass, as memorial, means it makes present here and now the event of Christ’s paschal mystery. In other words, for every time we participate in the Eucharistic celebration, we experience again and again the same salvific sacrifice of Christ offered by him once and for all on that night of his Passover (see CCC 1364).

The breaking of the bread is obviously a meal. No doubt, the most evident dimension of the Eucharist is that it is a meal.  This involves partaking in the banquet of the body and blood of Christ.  As such, it is an invitation to fellowship with God and with one another.

The Eucharist as a memorial meal, then, is a privilege moment for us to “remember” our Lord.  It is in this fellowship that we experience the real presence of Christ—a fulfilment of his promise to remain with us until the end of the world.

So, it is the end of the darkness of Good Friday and the beginning of the light of Easter, when we recognize the risen Lord in every ‘breaking of the bread’ that we participate in.  Do I allow my mind to be opened and my heart to be enkindled, as the two disciples in the road to Emmaus did, whenever I participate in the fellowship of the Eucharist? Do I experience the presence of the risen Lord in this memorial celebration?

The Risen Lord in the Ministry of Forgiveness.  The suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ brought him, as the Messiah, to his victory over the power of sin. The risen Lord thus instructs his disciples towards the end of today’s gospel reading: “Thus it is likewise written that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. In his name, penance for the remission of sins is to be preached to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of this” (vv. 46-48).

Hence, in the first reading (Acts 3:13-15, 17-19), Peter confronts the people in Jerusalem who handed over Jesus to his death: “You disowned the Holy and Just One and preferred instead to be granted the release of a murderer. You put to death the Author of life. But God raised him from the dead, and we are his witnesses” (14-16).  But Peter’s message is not of condemnation but of understanding and invitation to repentance:  “I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did. ...Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away” (17-19).

We experience the presence of the risen Lord whenever forgiveness is preached and celebrated.  As a minister of God’s mercy, for instance, I recognize with clarity the presence of the risen Lord in the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I recognize his presence in the experience of those who come for forgiveness.  They approach trembling, ashamed, insecure, and searching for words to describe the ugliness of sin. But they emerge later from the confessional with peace, with the dignity of the children of God, with security, and with the words of thanksgiving and praises to the merciful God. Such is for me the undeniable power of the risen Lord over sin.

Whenever forgiveness is preached, celebrated, and experienced, it is indeed the end of the darkness of Good Friday and the beginning of the light of Easter because forgiveness testifies to the power of the risen Lord over sin. Jesus Christ is risen.

Let us then witness to the resurrection of Christ as we recognize his presence in our Eucharistic fellowship and in our experience of forgiveness.