Jn 21:1-14 (1-19)

The same sign of the superabundant fishing in Lk 5:1-11 does not concern the story of the Church after Easter, but is even placed in the day when Jesus invites the first disciples to follow him to become "fishers" of men.

The prodigy of the Vocation expands the believer's journey in Christ and affects every experience we can have of the Risen One in our ordinary work - and what Mission is entrusted to us to experience Him Alive.

The Church is not composed of phenomena, but of a stubborn and eager leader [Peter]. Some are in and out [Thomas], others remain tied to the past [Nathanael], and there is no shortage of fanatics [the sons of Zebedee]; hence the anonymous, that is, all of us.

Peter realises that before giving orders, he must do and expose himself: if so, the others, although insubordinate, will decide spontaneously (v.3), expanding their lives.

But without the torch of the Word, no results. Following Peter is not enough and does not save anyone.

Here is Jesus: on the shore of the ultimate condition he calls us and leads the way, he leads the way of activity, and he is finally Light - the Dawn.

The net must be cast from the "right side" (v.6), i.e. the good side!

In order to pull people up from the depths of polluted waters and billows of death towards a possibility of respite or self-esteem and full life, one must begin and aim for the best in each one, bringing out the good that is always there.

Reminder for us. Every culture possesses many qualities: let us build on them, instead of approaching women and men, ethnic groups or situations, by pointing out limitations and problems.

So the Peter - each community leader - must have no preconceived notions, but take off the cassock of group leader and gird himself in the apron of a servant [v.7: the Greek verb is that of the washing of feet].

For work that gives results according to God (love) one must wear the same robe as Christ - the only badge: the robe of one who does not give orders, but receives them.

This is the trait of the authentic Church - nothing great: it does not arrive on an ocean liner, but on a "little boat" [v.8 Greek text].

And it remains low-key: like a little leaven, to embrace all.

Despite the difficulties in believing, the disciples are constituted as heralds of the news of God favourable to humanity that intends to journey towards itself - without the baggage of overwhelming accumulations of manner.

For communion with God and one's brothers and sisters, in the journey of life and the sense of rebirth that lurks therein [e.g. after pain, travails, experiences of rejection, thoughts of failure and death...]. Jesus had brought out the transmutative capacities already in dowry to each one.

His proposal had supplanted the oppressive yoke of the external perfections preached by religion, replaced precisely with our simple family virtues, grasped from within. Not: to fight, but to welcome. Not: to obey, but to resemble. And so on.

The church was not to become an ethical communion of saints, but of sinners and unbelievers. The story of the unbelieving apostles comforts us: we are already empowered, and with aptitude for fullness. But in its reversal.

It is the resurrection that sends us among men, precisely to be regenerated; just like us. Thus the apostle status is not subject to the usual doctrinal, moralistic, customary, and religious rigmarole; it no longer lags behind.

Although self-belief remains fragile, we continually experience resurrection from our rubble - raising or at best regenerating the entire organism of the spirit, and the inner universe.

All this shapes a different consciousness of inadequacy: that in Faith - only positive, because it understands the brothers. He recognises them in the depths of himself, and in this way he knows how to justify the resistance to the Announcement.

For it is in the recovery of opposing sides and the synergy of contradictions that we have become - in our own - experts in difficulty. More able to grasp the discomforts; even the feeling of feeling emptied, which sooner or later will give way to the upheaval; unprecedented happy.

Then we have learnt about listening to emotions: the sense of being overwhelmed - even in ideas. And the need to grasp and lose ourselves in sorrows, absurd or unbearable. Dignified sides; faces of ourselves.

In short, for the purpose of vocational fulfilment, everyone is already 'perfect'.

In its bearer of dissimilar energies, it just has to learn to meet the reliefs of itself that it has not yet made way for.

As if within us we have a multiplicity of aspects, often all to be discovered, behind some shell that resists - which complete us and infallibly guide us to personal and social blossoming.

Thus in the exodus we move from death-resurrection experience to true witness - in the spontaneous frankness of being empowered as evangelisers.

Which surprises us. But now the Message becomes our own.It becomes a call for peace, but an explosive one - unbelievable, and one can see this more from its limits (now nothing to fear) than from its ability, or external style, its ability to set up sententious cathedrals and showcases.

After Christ, there is no longer any need to 'improve' according to a common meaning - nor any expectation, or purpose, that looks to and drinks from the fountain of what has already been said by others [in the past, or for fashion], which then puts us back in the same predictable situation as always.

For the shaky apostles, consensus, ancient or glamorous religion, identification, were self-denial at heart.

Conversely, the Calling by Name became the development of what each person was deep inside and had not given himself, manipulating himself.

Road of self-realisation, also in our contribution to our brothers. Also not intimately dissociated.

The only convincing weapon, genuineness - burning within to make us shrines, unconscious and incomplete but living.

Contemplative and in action. Only way to meet souls.

We are collaborators of the apron, to dialogue with those in need of recovery, in whatever condition of whirlwind or periphery they find themselves.

Therefore, 'to shepherd' (vv.15-17) means to precede and nourish, not to command.

Those who lead must be a sign of a God who does not get fed up or repent.

Loving and inviting face of the One who is able to amaze and set Simon on his feet. The chief apostle, who had been called to freedom and had chosen the condition of lackey [cf. Jn 21:9; with the "fire of embers" in Jn 18:18].

At the end of a game of re-proposals, in the dialogue with Simon himself - "of John" because he is still spiritually a pupil of the Baptist (!) - it is Jesus who "settles" for a love of friendship [cf. Greek text] by modifying the double question "do you love me?" with the third: "do you love me?".

Human love waits for a minimum of satisfaction, it cannot shape itself into pure loss - it waits for something, at least a nod of approval and gratitude.

No recognition? Then it is the Strongest who yields.

'To wait' is the infinitive of the verb 'to love', because it allows one to be born again.

Human feeling is in a hurry: it regulates its conduct on the basis of the success or perfections of the beloved.

Divine Love makes up for it; it helps to become another 'person', in the round - it does not break the understanding.

His Calling is not tied to merit or performance: even through works, saying 'I love you' is (unfortunately not infrequently) a fatuous declaration.

Or a sincere expression, but often animated by enthusiasm without a deep root, which on a subsequent test of facts transforms the oath of fidelity into a fragile and uncertain sentiment.

It is the awareness of one's own unpresentability gratuitously redeemed and transformed into the ground of absurd confidence, which transforms self-presumption into apostolate!

This is why Jesus asks Peter to begin by starting with the little ones of the flock (v.15).

And 'to pasture' (vv.15.17) or 'to shepherd' (v.16) means 'to feed': to nurture, to care for, to protect, to favour; to initiate, to risk personally, to defend and to put one's face on - not 'to command'.

To graze is to make oneself present, in a continuous of references. It is this climate that convinces, educates, feeds and sustains, allowing it to grow and flourish.

"To 'shepherd' is [precisely] not to rule, but to feed the ideal. And to begin with the little flock (v.15).

In short, in order to secure the 'happy' outcome, the true believer, the friend of the Lord, the child of God, does not ally himself with people who matter, then we shall see.

Nor must it 'fish' for proselytes, but rather dilate and cheer life.

The fullness of the 'result' is the Happiness of each and every real person - as it is - not as it 'should be' according to established opinion.

In fact, Jesus does not ask Peter: are you a good steward? Are you a good organiser? Are you a skilful animator? Are you equipped, intelligent, cunning and introduced enough to stand up to your adversaries?

So God's 'enemy' is not uncertainty or sin - obsession that breeds the unbalanced - but the pursuit of the 'average life'. They quagmire where one does not throw oneself.

[A reflection for the Scoutmaster reads: "Remember, Scoutmaster: if you slow down, they stop; if you yield, they back off; if you sit down, they lie down. If you walk ahead, they will overtake you; if you give your hand, they will give their skin'].

To internalise and live the message:

Are you an envoy or a mere admirer?

What is your personal Source?

What is the Source of your relationships?

What about the root of all faithfulness and generosity that draws you, and shows you?

Peter’s call to be a shepherd, which we heard in the Gospel, comes after the account of a miraculous catch of fish: after a night in which the disciples had let down their nets without success, they see the Risen Lord on the shore. He tells them to let down their nets once more, and the nets become so full that they can hardly pull them in; 153 large fish: “and although there were so many, the net was not torn” (Jn 21:11). This account, coming at the end of Jesus’s earthly journey with his disciples, corresponds to an account found at the beginning: there too, the disciples had caught nothing the entire night; there too, Jesus had invited Simon once more to put out into the deep. And Simon, who was not yet called Peter, gave the wonderful reply: “Master, at your word I will let down the nets.” And then came the conferral of his mission: “Do not be afraid. Henceforth you will be catching men” (Lk 5:1-11). Today too the Church and the successors of the Apostles are told to put out into the deep sea of history and to let down the nets, so as to win men and women over to the Gospel – to God, to Christ, to true life. The Fathers made a very significant commentary on this singular task. This is what they say: for a fish, created for water, it is fatal to be taken out of the sea, to be removed from its vital element to serve as human food. But in the mission of a fisher of men, the reverse is true. We are living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering and death; in a sea of darkness without light. The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death and brings us into the splendour of God’s light, into true life. It is really true: as we follow Christ in this mission to be fishers of men, we must bring men and women out of the sea that is salted with so many forms of alienation and onto the land of life, into the light of God. It is really so: the purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men. And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is.

[Pope Benedict, homily at the beginning of the Petrine Ministry 24 April 2005]

1. "Just as the day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach" (Jn 21: 4). At the crack of dawn, the Risen One appeared to the Apostles, who had just returned after a night of unsuccessful fishing on the lake of Tiberias. The Evangelist explains that on that night "they caught nothing" (Jn 21: 3) and adds that they had nothing to eat. They obeyed Jesus' invitation:  "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some" (Jn 21: 6) without hesitation. Their response was prompt and their reward great, because all night long their net had been empty and now, "they were not able to haul it in for the great quantity of fish" (Jn 21: 6).

How can we not see in this episode, which St John mentions in the epilogue of his Gospel, an eloquent sign of what the Lord continues to do in the Church and in the hearts of believers who trust in him without reserve? The five Servants of God whom I have had the joy of raising to the honour of the altars today are special witnesses of the extraordinary gift which the risen Christ lavishes upon every baptized person:  the gift of holiness.

Blessed are those who make this mysterious gift fruitful, allowing the Holy Spirit to conform their lives to Christ who died and was raised! Blessed are you who shine today like bright stars in the firmament of the Church:  Manuel González García, Bishop, Founder of the Congregation of the Misioneras Eucarísticas de Nazaret; Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago, layman; Marie Anne Blondin, virgin, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of St Anne; Caterina Volpicelli, virgin, foundress of the Servants of the Sacred Heart; Caterina Cittadini, virgin, foundress of the Ursuline Sisters of Somasca.

Each one of you, in promising yourselves to Christ, made the Gospel the your rule of life. Thus you became his faithful disciples, having drawn that newness of life, inaugurated by the mystery of the Resurrection, from the inexhaustible spring of his love.

2. "That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord' " (Jn 21: 7). In the Gospel we have heard that seeing the miracle worked, a disciple recognizes Jesus. The others will recognize him later. In presenting to us Jesus who "came and took the bread and gave it to them" (Jn 21: 13), the Gospel points out how and when we can meet the risen Christ:  in the Eucharist, where Jesus is truly present under the appearances of bread and wine. It would be sad if, after so long, the Saviour's loving presence were still to be unknown by humanity.

This was the great passion of the new blessed, Bl. Manuel González García, Bishop of Malaga and later of Palencia. His experience before a deserted tabernacle in Palomares del Río was to mark his whole life, and from that moment he dedicated himself to spreading devotion to the Eucharist, proclaiming the words he subsequently chose as his epitaph:  "Here is Jesus! He is here! Do not abandon him!" Bl. Manuel González, founder of the Misioneras Eucarísticas de Nazaret, is a model of Eucharistic faith whose example continues to speak to the Church today.

3. "None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?'. They knew it was the Lord" (Jn 21: 12). When the disciples recognize him by the lake of Tiberias, their faith in Christ, risen and present among his disciples, is strengthened. For two millennia the Church has not tired of proclaiming and repeating this fundamental truth of faith.

[Pope John Paul II, homily 29 April 2001]

Today’s Gospel recounts the third apparition of the Risen Jesus to the disciples, with the account of the miraculous catch on the shore of the lake of Galilee (cf. Jn 21:1-19). The narrative is situated in the context of the everyday life of the disciples, who returned to their land and to their work as fishermen, after the shocking days of the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. It was difficult for them to understand what had taken place. Even though everything seemed finished, Jesus “seeks” his disciples once more. It is He who goes to seek them. This time he meets them at the lake, where they have spent the night in their boats catching nothing. The nets appear empty, in a certain sense, like the tally of their experience with Jesus: they met him, they left everything to follow him, full of hope... and now? Yes, they saw he was risen, but then they were thought: “He went away and left us.... It was like a dream...”.

So it is that at sunrise Jesus presents himself on the lakeshore; however they do not recognize him (cf. v. 4). The Lord says to those tired and disappointed fishermen: “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some” (v. 6). The disciples trust in Jesus and the result is an incredibly abundant catch. At this point John turns to Peter and says: “It is the Lord!” (v. 7). Right away Peter throws himself into the water and swims to the shore, toward Jesus. In that exclamation: “It is the Lord!”, there is all the enthusiasm of the Paschal faith, full of joy and wonder, which sharply contrasts with the disappearance, the dejection, the sense of powerlessness that had accumulated in the disciples’ hearts. The presence of the Risen Jesus transforms everything: darkness has become light, futile work has again become fruitful and promising, the sense of weariness and abandonment give way to a new impetus and to the certainty that He is with us.

From that time, these same sentiments enliven the Church, the Community of the Risen One. All of us are the community of the Risen One! At first glance it might sometimes seem that the darkness of evil and the toil of daily living have got the upper hand, the Church knows with certainty that the now everlasting light of Easter shines upon those who follow the Lord Jesus. The great message of the Resurrection instills in the hearts of believers profound joy and invincible hope. Christ is truly risen! Today too, the Church continues to make this joyous message resound: joy and hope continue to flow in hearts, in faces, in gestures, in words. We Christians are all called to communicate this message of resurrection to those we meet, especially to those who suffer, to those who are alone, to those who find themselves in precarious conditions, to the sick, to refugees, to the marginalized. Let us make a ray of the light of the Risen Christ, a sign of his powerful mercy, reach everyone.

May he, the Lord, also renew in us the Paschal faith. May he render us ever more aware of our mission at the service of the Gospel and of our brothers and sisters; may he fill us with his Holy Spirit so that, sustained by the intercession of Mary, with all the Church we may proclaim the greatness of his love and the abundance of his mercy.

[Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 10 April 2016]

(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 doesn’t 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 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 24, 2025]

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’s 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’s combined with the quality of life experienced in a multifaceted and indigent fraternity, but which doesn’t 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 23, 2025]