EASTER THURSDAY READINGS AND REFLECTION: “PEACE BE WITH YOU…WHY ARE YOU TROUBLED?” (Lk 24:35–48).

EASTER THURSDAY READINGS AND REFLECTION:
“PEACE BE WITH YOU…WHY ARE YOU TROUBLED?”
(Lk 24:35–48).

READING I 
Acts 3:11–26 
As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.” When Peter saw this, he addressed the people, “You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you. Now I know, brothers and sisters, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. For Moses said: A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you. Everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be cut off from the people. 
“Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed. For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.” 
 
RESPONSORIAL PSALM 
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! 
Or: Alleluia.
O Lord, our Lord, 
how glorious is your name over all the earth! 
What is man that you should be mindful of him, 
or the son of man that you should care for him? 
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! 
Or: Alleluia.
You have made him little less than the angels, 
and crowned him with glory and honor. 
You have given him rule over the works of your hands, 
putting all things under his feet. 
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! 
Or: Alleluia.
All sheep and oxen, 
yes, and the beasts of the field, 
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea, 
and whatever swims the paths of the seas. 
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! 
Or: Alleluia.
 
Optional: Sequence  
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems: Christ,
who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in
that combat stupendous: 
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
Bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen:
To Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen,
our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! 
Amen. Alleluia. 
 
ALLELUIA
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

GOSPEL OF EASTER THURSDAY
Lk 24:35–48

 The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way, and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread. 
While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? 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.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. 
He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

GOSPEL COMMENTARY

“Peace be with you.”

“Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? 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.”

While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. 

Dear Jesus, how well you know and understand your Apostles. They had all the reasons to believe since they were seeing you right in front of their eyes, but still, they were incredulous, not in a negative way, but rather incredulous for joy, as when someone wins a jackpot prize in a lottery and needs time to let reality sink in. But you shortened this time by giving them two physical proofs which prove that it is You present with your glorious body, adapting to the human way of knowledge where senses play an important part.

Lord, we ask you to grant us more grace than that which you granted your Apostles, so that our faith in, hope in, and love for You be stronger than those which the Apostles had, even if we haven’t physically witnessed your Risen glorified Body.

You, have said to Thomas: Blessed are those who believe yet have not seen. Though we may not have seen your glorified Body, we firmly believe in your Resurrection and that you are truly, really, and substantially present in the Tabernacle, during the Holy Mass, and when we receive You in Holy Communion.

Help us believe in you, hope in you, and love you more, not only in desires but also in deeds, with a lasting perseverance which would lead us to see you face to face in the glory of Heaven.

Stay safe and God bless!
Fr. Rolly Arjonillo

VIDEO REFLECTION TOPIC:
IS THERE JOY IN YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW?

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus appears to His disciples for the first time as a group. They were afraid. But after touching Him and seeing Him eat, they believed. And the gospel says, they were “incredulous for joy!” Incredulous means they were not sure. They were skeptical. But they were also amazed and shocked that Jesus, who was crucified, died and buried, was with them, wounds and all. He was not a ghost but a complete man! It all seemed too good to be true.

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