April 15, 2004 - Easter Thursday

Witnesses to the Risen Lord

Readings:
Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9; Lk 24:35-48

Introduction

We gather for our eucharist because we firmly believe that Christ died for us and is risen from the dead. We gather around the risen Lord to open our hearts and minds to his word and to let him fill us with his living presence. He tells us, as he told his apostles: "Look, it is really I; listen to me; touch me in the food and drink of the eucharist." Thus, in our assemblies we proclaim the risen Christ and bear witness to him. But this faith must find expression in our everyday Christian living: since Christ is risen, he must rise in us; we must become new people in whom Christ is alive. We must bear witness to him with the whole of our lives.

Opening Prayer

Almighty God and Father,
Jesus died for us on the cross
and you raised him from the dead.
We have not seen the marks of the nails in his hands
nor touched the wound in his side,
but we believe that he is alive
and present here among us.
Open our hearts to his word
and let us touch him in the bread of the eucharist,
that he may raise us above our sins
and change us into new people.
May we thus bear witness to your risen Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: 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: Ps 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9

R (2ab) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
or:
R 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:
R 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:
R 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:
R Alleluia.

Gospel Reading: Lk 24:35-48

The two disciples 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. Then repentance and forgiveness in his name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Now you shall be witnesses to this."

Commentary

"YOU will be witnesses of this," he told them. "To all nations." Who were they? They were a small group of frightened people cowering from the authorities. On the face of it they didn't seem at all suitable for the task; the last thing they wanted was to be recognized as his followers.

They were "the eleven and their companions" (Lk 24:33). Projecting in today's terms, they were the whole Church, clergy and laity; all were commissioned to go out to the whole world and bear witness. The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium has these words, "Every lay person should be a witness before the world to the resurrection and the life of the Lord Jesus, and a sign of the living God" (n.38). In the highly clericalized Church of the past the laity were cornered into passivity: they were hearers only, not preachers of the Word. Now is the time for them to come into their strength. They will preach what they have "seen and heard", and above all what they have experienced and lived. Preaching with words alone is like a pallid winter sun, giving light but no warmth. The warmth of their lived experienced will give life to their preaching.

General Intercessions

- That in the name of the risen Lord the Church may raise up its members and even outsiders to a new and better life, we pray:

- That the risen Lord may give us peace and serenity of heart, that in him we have someone to live for and to make our lives meaningful, we pray:

- That the risen Lord may give peace to our Christian communities through the certainty that he stays with us and breaks for us the bread of the eucharist, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Living Father,
with bread and wine we celebrate
the presence of your Son in our midst
here around this table and in the life of every day.
Let us experience him here as your great gift to us
and let him stay with us
in our never-ending quest
to be your people trying to live the risen life
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

God of life and saving love,
we have enjoyed the presence of your Son among us
for we have been together in his name,
he has spoken to us his words of life
and we have shared his table.
May he live on in our community
by our attentive presence to one another,
our common faith expressed in deeds
of love and service, of gratitude and compassion,
by our efforts to create a better world
where there is justice and hope for all.
May we thus journey together to you
and bear witness that Christ is our Lord
now and for ever.

Blessing

"Peace be with you," says Jesus to us. It is really he who lives among us. Let us touch him in our prayer, in our closeness to him, and may almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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