On this third Sunday of Easter, the Liturgy continues to present to us the message of the Resurrection of Christ. Today’s readings challenge us to adjust our lives to the living presence of the risen Lord as we grow daily more aware of God’s presence with us and around us as the Holy Spirit. The first reading is part of St. Peter’s post –Resurrection speeches. Following the healing of the crippled man by Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:1-10), the people are astounded and wonder if the apostles are healers with special and mysterious powers. In today’s passage Peter explains that the healing is not as result of his power or holiness. What has happened, he says, is the work of Christ and evidence that Jesus is alive. He forcefully declares that the messianic prophecies have been fulfilled in the crucified and risen Jesus and challenges all to turn toward God so that their sins might be wiped away. The actions of the apostles embody the life and sentiments of Jesus, who while on earth, was always concerned with what was for the good of His fellow men and women, taught a way of life, cured the sick, gave food to the hungry and sought out the lost. Thus, if such things are being done in His Church with the same force and power, it means that Jesus is alive and continues to act through us and that His Spirit is still present in the world. The works the apostles do prove undoubtedly that Jesus is alive.

In the second reading, St. John answers the doubts raised by the heretics of his time. He therefore asserts the fundamental Christian doctrines that Jesus’ death was a sacrifice offered as expiation for our sins and those of the whole world. He says that though we must admit our sinfulness, we nourish our hope with the knowledge that Jesus Christ, the upright, is with us. The gospel describes Jesus’ appearance on the evening of His Resurrection to His apostles who were in the locked Upper Room. Jesus removes the doubts of His apostles about His Resurrection by inviting them to touch Him and also by eating a piece of cooked fish. Jesus explains to them how the prophecies have been fulfilled in Him and commissions them to bear witness to Him and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name after receiving the Holy Spirit. In this passage we found elements of wonder, fear, and doubts as it is always the case in Jesus’ apparitions after His Resurrection. When the Risen Jesus appears, He is never recognized immediately and those who see Him always have doubts (cf. Jn. 20:11-18; 21:1-14, Lk. 24:13-35, Mt.28:17). The apostles do not find it easy to believe. Their faith develops slowly and uneasily.

Today’s gospel passage shows that the apostles are in a state of shock. The Good Friday happenings continue to hunt them. In that atmosphere of wonder, fear, doubt and gloom, Jesus makes an appearance. He breaks in with the words of peace: Peace be with you! The peace Jesus communicates is not an uneasy peace of coexistence with the demons of fear, doubt and anxiety. It is not the fragile peace that the world gives. It is the peace of the Resurrected Jesus who has convincingly conquered sin and death. By confronting His disciples with His physical self, he builds their shattered psyche by opening their minds to the sacred scriptures. It is this invincible peace of the Risen Lord that we are all invited to communicate to our world ridden by anxiety. The spiritual journey of the apostles towards faith is the image of what we also have to go through. We too pass through many doubts, uncertainties and fears before we can ‘’see’’ the Risen Lord. Every time we gather together in prayer and listen to His word, He is among us. Gradually our eyes open up, and we discover that if we die with Him, we will enter with Him into the full life of God. Belief in the Lord’s resurrection urges us to radically change our way of thinking and living.

Happy Sunday!