April 24, 2014
Thursday in the Octave of Easter 1st Reading: Acts 3:11–26 Gospel: Lk 24:35–48
Then the two told what had happened on the road and how Jesus made himself known when he broke bread with them.
As they went on talking about this, Jesus himself stood in their midst. (And he said to them, “Peace to you.”) In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost, but he said to them, “Why are you upset and why do such ideas cross your mind? Look at my hands and feet and see that it is I myself. Touch me and see for yourselves that a ghost has no flesh and bones as I have.” As he said this, he showed his hands and feet.)
In their joy they didn’t dare believe and were still astonished. So he said to them, “Have you anything to eat?” and they gave him a piece of broiled fish. He took it and ate it before them.
Then Jesus said to them, “Remember the words I spoke to you when I was still with you: Everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he went on, “You see what was written: the Messiah had to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (…).
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
As a child I played with our bolo in defiance of my mother’s instruction never to play with sharp instruments. For that act of disobedience I carry up to the present a big scar on my right forearm. I have tried removing the ugly scar using different ointments but none worked. Had I the power to remove this, I would have removed it long ago. Nobody wants scars. At the physical level, scars look ugly; at the moral level they mar the soul; at the psychological level, they are traumatic.
Jesus’ body too bore so many scars. Surprisingly he did not remove them even when he had the power to do so. He kept them and even proudly showed them to his disciples to prove his identity. If Jesus respected those scars it was because he valued the sufferings he underwent. Sufferings are important to his followers as well. St. Paul explained the importance of sufferings to the Romans when he wrote: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4).
Lest this leads to masochism we must clarify that we do not love sufferings for suffering’s sake. The sufferings that are meritorious to a Christian are those necessary to follow God’s will. I have more reasons now to dislike this scar on my wrist because this was fruit of disobedience, not of love for others as Jesus’ scars indicate. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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