Peace of Jesus

Scripture/Bible: On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." John 20:19-23

Reflection:  Schooling a little child means education, its educating the child in order to achieve the higher goals of life, through a gradual process, as desired by the parents or later left open for the child to decide.  Likewise we as grownups who are not used to a certain regimen will first warm up rather than jump headlong into it. 

God too in all patience reveals himself gradually to us because we by nature can’t take much of what he has in store for us for our growth and development.  Only a proud man thinks that he knows and has it all.

In the gospel text we find Jesus, quite strangely, wishing his Disciples peace twice in one single encounter.  This is rather a strange act on the part of the risen Christ.

Unless we enjoy Gods peace we cannot be open to the revelation of Christ.  Let God wish us peace and let us receive from his presence and not through our labor or through any worldly or corrupt spiritual techniques. This peace is accomplished in us through the forgiveness of sins. 


In other words; forgiveness of sins brings his peace and his peace enables us to receive his revelation in a greater measure. 

If we adopt a methodology of the world, which includes any type of spirituality that is not Christian in origin then we tread a dangerous path. The Catholic Church has a rich tradition of contemplative spiritualities which have gone through the test of fire in the furnace of purification. 


The methodology of the world gives us its own peace and this peace makes us open to the wisdom of the world which is foolishness in God's sight. 

The way in which Jesus prepares his disciple shows a clear indication that this peace is brought about through the forgiveness of sins and not through any mantra and meditation or suppressing the guilt in one’s conscience.

Prayer:  Lord, speak to my heart as I seek you face each day and forgive me my many iniquities so that I may enjoy your peace and through your constant revelation find growth. 

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

First Day of the Week

Scripture/Bible:  Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. 12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. 14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:9-15

Reflection:  If there is a law which after many years has been given a new interpretation by the supreme authority, after having consulted his experts, then can one challenge it purely on the basis of an older custom in its practice. 

This is exactly what Jesus did when he walked among us. He gave a new meaning to the Sabbath by working in it; “For the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath." Matt 12:8/ Lk. 6:5

When he rose from the dead; he entered into his rest on the first day of the week, deciding in a way, as Lord of the Sabbath a new day to rest. A rest accomplished by worshipping God in a special way in spirit and truth;. “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his.”  Heb 4:9-10

Hence what the Catholic Church has done is change that element in the Old Law which Christ has not only fulfilled but has nullified by his action as Lord and by entering into his rest on this day.

Therefore the resurrection is an indelible mark on the new Sabbath left behind by none other than Jesus himself, who makes all things new. (Rev. 21:5) and yet as the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we are in the Sabbath because we have entered with Christ into his rest. 

What then is the sin of the seventh Day Adventist and all who follow their corruption, is it not that they deny the very action of Christ Jesus as Lord and master?  

As for us we rejoice in the wisdom of God revealed to us through his one Holy Catholic and apostolic Church and we shall await each Sabbath Sunday, to worship him,  as the Lord’s day on which he revealed himself constantly to his disciples in a special way.

Prayer:  Lord, may honor the Sabbath and keep it holy by spending additional time in y our presence.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Jesus revealed himself

Scripture/Bible:  After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tibe'ri-as; and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathan'a-el of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zeb'edee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." 6 He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. John 21:1-14

Reflection:  Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." Could this be another way of saying hell with Jesus and all this discussion about him?  "I am fed up, let’s be practical," Peter may have said in his mind. What does his resurrection mean to me, if not being practical?

He has risen or maybe not, his resurrection may be another of those ghost appearances which people talk about.  Yes we have seen those wonderful acts and miracles and the greatest thing that he taught us was love, yet it doesn’t solve my predicament. Hence upper most in Peter’s mind could have been the thought; how to be practical?

Fish and I will be able to feed my wife and my mother- in – law and a few poor waiting outside the synagogue to beg. That would be my option for the poor. Let me be practical in loving my neighbor as myself.

There are many in this world who are being practical, like Peter of old, with the Gospel of Christ.  They have adopted the praxis approach to the gospel.  In their myopic vision they see the kingdom of God as a human agenda from a praxis angle, viz. which is establishing a kingdom of justice, peace and brotherhood, earthly emancipation.  

In that they think that they love all humanity. They think that this way they are not discriminating between caste and creed and they have the complete vision of love. 

Blessed is the man who is open, not to the wisdom of the world or to Marx and liberation theories but rather to the revelation of Christ, who here comes again to reveal himself the third time to the Disciples.

There is only the one task he has for them; that which comes to them now through revelation has to be communicated to the world. If this is not love and if we do not see love in this proclamation of the revelation of God in Christ Jesus then we are as St. Paul says; “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”  1 Cor 13:1

Prayer:  Lord, reveal yourself to me more and more each day as I come before you so that I may be your instrument of love.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Recognizing Christ

Scripture/Bible:   Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. 36 As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them. 37 But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? 39 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." 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.44 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." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:35-48

Reflection:  You have to ultimately know him in the breaking of the bread…

How many of us recognize Christ Jesus in the breaking of the bread or, in other words, in a Eucharistic celebration.

You may know a particular famous or popular relative, you may have dined with him and may have had long drawn out conversations with him and even played with him.  Yet all this knowledge of him and about him is of very little significance if you didn’t recognize nor know that quality of his which endears him to his people.   You may one day even occupy his seat and he may even expect that from you but if you do not know him in those particular qualities of his then you will never really be successful in his footsteps.

Similarly, the greatest ever Rabi to have walked the earth, in his simplicity and love for us, could have, after his resurrection, revealed himself to this disciples at the outset or along the way.  There was nothing that could have stopped him from revealing himself. What is more there were wounds in his side and I am sure he only had to show the marked features of his glorified face to them and it would not have been difficult for them to behold and recognize.

Yet Jesus allows them the eternal privilege of revealing himself in and through the eternal sacrifice on the cross; the breaking of the bread.  It is not a symbolic revelation but a real presence and much more real than his physical presence with them; a presence in which the apostles recognized him and in retrospect his physical presence too.

He expects his disciples to recognize him in that presence.  So if anyone is a true disciple of his then he has to graduate to that goal of recognizing the real presence of Jesus in the bread and from that presence recognize Jesus in his fullness in total retrospect.

Eucharist; "the source and summit of the Christian life" Lumen gentium, no. 11; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1324.

Prayer:  Prepare my heart Lord to recognize you in the most holy Eucharist and thereon to keep seeking your presence and glory in all that I do.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Divine Instructions

Scripture/Bible:  That very day two of them were going to a village named Emma'us, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cle'opas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" 19 And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see." 25 And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:13-27

Reflection:  What could they have been talking among themselves? Is it the sad event and the suffering that Jesus went through or they may have been discussing from a depressive state having lost someone whom they looked up to as their savior?

In reality it is a post resurrection scene; an event that has made them bewildered and compelled them to discuss; what could this be; visions of Angels, missing body and appearances? There are more in a state of shock and in a dilemma on what to believe.

Yet they did not have conclusive evidence to base their thoughts on anything that is conclusive and concrete. Neither were they on any sort of sure foundation when they were discussing things.

Human nature seeks logic and a sound reason but they deceiving themselves through ill-conceived rationalization is a different question altogether.  To find logic and meaning to life and the things of life is intrinsic to human nature.
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Hence, maybe, they were discussing in order to arrive at some degree of sanity concerning their faith in the man whom they once followed with all their hearts and mind.

The only one who can instruct us in the divine is the risen Jesus and his Spirit, who subsequently also works through the Church, both visible and invisible. 

Allow Jesus in a concrete way to answer the many queries in our heart and mind and he will teach you beautifully because he knows how you think and what will convince you easily. The disciple did that unknowingly and reaped a bounty of wisdom that will surely lead them into eternity. 

Prayer:  Lord, you will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go; (cfr. Ps 32:8)

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Mourn: How long?

Scripture/Bible:  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rab-bo'ni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." 18 Mary Mag'dalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. Jn 20:11-18

Reflection:  What if Jesus would not have risen from the dead then how long would Mary, not the mother of Jesus, continue to mourn for Jesus?  Depends on how much she loved the Lord.

Death of a beloved brings with it the many memories which can make us sad, depressed, hurt, angry, pained and disillusioned with life and its purpose.  Life can become an empty vacuum and there seems very little meaning for existence.

A sudden death or a painful death is still worse to overcome and come to terms with.  The very thought of seeing our loved ones in pain or having gone through a painful, violent death can send us into a tizzy. 

Mary’s woes seems similar and so too the hopes of many of his disciples. It would have been still worse if Jesus had not prepared them on this journey, even though there were bouts of unbelief.

If he had not revealed himself post resurrection then I am sure many of his disciples would have had some sort of nervous breakdown. They would have felt that they followed him with hope and had invested all their future in a man whose life has been suddenly snuffed out from their midst.

The Resurrection of Jesus brings hope in the midst of such a crisis, not only to the apostles but also to all who believe in him and his words of assurance.

Therefore, a Christian can be sad and sorrowful at the separation of a loved one but they cannot give in to despair; as if everything is lost forever and for all eternity.  Further they can overcome their many anxieties, hurts, fears, depression, sadness and whatever weighs them down with Jesus the Lord and master who has in himself overcome every enemy of death.

For this to happen one has to practically seek his help and constantly look to him.  The minimum one can do is be grateful to the Lord for his higher plans and purpose for their lives.

Blessed is the man who has been prepared by him in his transforming presence even before these tragedies have come into being in their lives.

Prayer:  Lord may I learn daily in your presence how to trust you and your ways for me.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Your Feet

Scripture/Bible:  So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Hail!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed; and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Matt 28:8-15

Reflection: The head is the significant part of the body which contains the face. Most of our senses primarily belong to the head, so too the brains. A good measure of blood and nutrients flow to it.  Imagine a head without seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and if not for hygiene and its place in the mouth the tongue could have played a role in touch too.

We also communicate with a mouth verbally and there are many non-verbal actions the head communicates too.

Then if one wants one could speak better of the hands by which we communicate nonverbally and touch, feel and use, to work and labour, strike and defend.

The disciple of Jesus on the other hand go for that part of the body to worship him which is least significant; the feet:  “..they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.” Jesus doesn't resist this act of worship at his feet. . 

What use are all that human senses and significant part of the body when it is not carried forward by the feet to reach out to others.  Despite its significance the feet can be the most derisive word, may be because it gathers the dust and get soiled very easily.

In the new order of creation starting with the death and resurrection of Jesus these feet will no longer be insignificant or underestimated but rather looked up to because we now have the good news (Gospel of Salvation) in concrete form and the senses which only served self interest will now serve the living God to bring his good news to others. To accomplish this act of love, by seeking to be his instrument of love, we will need our feet in a greater measure.

    

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth peace: …that preacheth salvation”  Isa 52:7/ Rm. 10:15

Prayer: “The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.” (Prov 15:30) Help me Lord with a refreshed spirit to be your instrument.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us