Just as Jesus came among Cleopas and the other disciple on their journey toward Emmaus, Jesus does so again as the pair was recounting their encounter with the risen Jesus. What Jesus does differently in this interaction is that he clarifies that he is not a ghost, “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have” (Lk 24:39). He then asked for something to eat. They gave him fish and he ate, something a ghost or spirit would not do. He talked with his disciples as he had done during their time together before his crucifixion.

We have heard about the resurrection of Jesus, maybe for years, but it is important not to get complacent with the amazing miracle that this is, who Jesus was, and continues to be: a hypostatic union, meaning that Jesus is one divine person, subsisting in two natures, the human and divine.

The humanity of Jesus through his resurrection was fully actualized and transcended the limitations of the three-dimensional realm that he had experienced in his humanity before his death and resurrection. This is how he could disappear after making himself known in the breaking of the bread and how he will come through a locked door to interact with his disciples.

The relevance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus for us is that he, in dying and conquering death, is now the reality of who we will one day be. We will be fully actualized as God has created us to be. The good news is that we do not have to wait to go to heaven for this process to begin! The path of becoming redeemed and whole begins in this life, now, as we accept Jesus as our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer. Jesus in his encounter with his disciples from today’s reading from Luke continues the message he began at the beginning of his ministry, which is one of repentance and forgiveness.

When we were baptized, we were born again as an integral part of the new creation given to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Through this grace, our humanity has been redeemed. Each day we are to live in humility, calling to mind our sins and repenting daily. As we do so, Jesus will forgive us, and as we receive his mercy and forgiveness, we will not only be more and more conformed to him, we are also to offer the same to others. Jesus suffered and died for each and every one of us, and he also seeks to live through us. Jesus is the foundation and source of our life and salvation. Jesus has come to show us that we are not in competition with God, but that his Father, our Father, seeks to be in solidarity with us.

There have been times when I have felt pretty wiped out physically, working second shift full time while student teaching in my last year of college; the balance of family life, teaching full time, and five years studying for the permanent deaconate; taking care of JoAnn in her final months; recovering from pneumonia; and over these past two years studying for the priesthood. Through each of these episodes and the regular day in and day out in between each of these more intense moments, I have found peace and renewal, and even more importantly, a deepening of my intimacy in my relationship with Jesus. This has grown as I have been more consistent in the daily anchor practices of praying with the liturgy of the hours and the daily Mass readings, participating in Mass, meditation and contemplation during my holy hour, the Rosary, and Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Most recently, in the days before taking my Cura Animarum, our final, oral exams, I headed out for my Rosary walk and saw a unique rainbow to the west (the picture of which I posted a few weeks ago), then the next day during my holy hour I was drawn to Jeremiah 1:7-9 in which God was encouraging me to have no fear and that he would place his words in my mouth, and then the day before the exam as I was genuflecting before Jesus present in the tabernacle, I surrendered all of myself to him and felt this overwhelming sense of closeness. Jesus was affirming not only that I would pass my oral exams, which I did, thank God, I felt he was affirming again my vocational path to the priesthood.

Since my late teens, God has revealed himself in these small ways. No mere coincidences have they been but God-incidences. These are moments where God says hello and lets us know that he walks with us and that we are not alone. Even in the midst of our trials and tribulations, when weary and worn, we can experience joy! God is reaching out to us in so many ways, all the time. We just need to take a moment, take a breath, and look up, listen, and be willing to feel. The more we do so, not only in our trials but in every situation, the more we will experience God-incidents – Alleluia!!!

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Photo: While praying the glorious mysteries, came upon this glorious bloom! – St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass reading for Thursday, April 4, 2024