Replies

From: Acts 3:1-10

Cure of a Man Lame from Birth

[1] Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of
prayer, the ninth hour. [2] And a man lame from birth was being
carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called
Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. [3] Seeing
Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. [4] And
Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, "Look at us." [5]
And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something
from them. [6] But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but I give
you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." [7]
And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately
his feet and ankles were made strong. [8] And leaping up he stood and
walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and
praising God. [9] And all the people saw him walking and praising God.
[10] and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful
Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder at what had
happened to him.

Commentary:

1. This was the hour of the evening sacrifice, which began around three
o'clock and was attended by a large number of devout Jews. The ritual,
which went on until dusk, was the second sacrifice of the day. The
earlier one, on similar lines, began at dawn and lasted until nine in
the morning.

2. None of the documents that have come down to us which describe the
Temple mentions a gate of this name. It was probably the Gate of
Nicanor (or Corinthian Gate), which linked the court of the Gentiles
with the court of the women which led on to the court of the
Israelites. It was architecturally a very fine structure and because
of its location it was a very busy place, which would have made it a
very good place for begging.

3-8. The cure of this cripple was the first miracle worked by the
Apostles. "This cure", says St. John Chrysostom, "testifies to the
resurrection of Christ, of which it is an image. [...] Observe that
they do not go up to the temple with the intention of performing the
miracle, so clear were they of ambition, so closely did they imitate
their Master" ("Hom. on Acts", 8).

However, the Apostles decide that the time has come to use the
supernatural power given them by God. What Christ did in the Gospel
using His own divine power, the Apostles now do in His name, using His
power. "The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up" (Luke 7:22). Our
Lord now keeps His promise to empower His disciples to work
miracles--visible signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. These
miracles are not extraordinary actions done casually or suddenly,
without His disciples' involvement: they occur because our Lord is
moved to perform them by the Apostles' faith (faith is an essential
pre-condition). The disciples are conscious of having received a gift
and they act on foot of it.

These miracles in the New Testament obviously occur in situations where
grace is intensely concentrated. However, that is not to say that
miracles do not continue to occur in the Christian economy of
salvation--miracles of different kinds, performed because God is
attracted to men and women of faith. "The same is true of us. If we
struggle daily to become saints, each of us in his own situation in the
world and through his own job or profession, in our ordinary lives,
then I assure you that God will make us into instruments that can work
miracles and, if necessary, miracles of the most extraordinary kind.
We will give sight to the blind. Who could not relate thousands of
cases of people, blind almost from the day they were born, recovering
their sight and receiving all the splendor of Christ's light? And
others who were deaf, or dumb, who could not hear or pronounce words
fitting to God's children.... Their senses have been purified and now
they hear and speak as men, not animals. "In nomine Iesu!" In the
name of Jesus His Apostles enable the cripple to move and walk, when
previously he had been incapable of doing anything useful; and that
other lazy character, who knew his duties but didn't fulfill them.
[...] In the Lord's name, "surge et ambula!", rise up and walk.

"Another man was dead, rotting, smelling like a corpse: he hears God's
voice, as in the miracle of the son of the widow at Naim: `Young man, I
say to you, rise up'. We will work miracles like Christ did, like the
first Apostles did" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 262).

Miracles call for cooperation--faith--on the part of those who wish to
be cured. The lame man does his bit, even if it is only the simple
gesture of obeying Peter and looking at the Apostles.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Luke 24:13-35

The Road To Emmaus

[13] That very day two of them (disciples) were going to a village
named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, [14] and talking with
each other about all these things that had happened. [15] While they
were talking and discussing together, Jesus Himself drew near and went
with them. [16] But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. [17]
And He said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding
with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad. [18]
Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, "Are You the only
visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened
there in these days?" [19] And He said to them, "What things?" And
they said to Him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet
mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, [20] and how our
chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and
crucified Him. [21] But we had hoped that He was the one to redeem
Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this
happened. [22] Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They
were at the tomb early in the morning [23] and did not find His body;
and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels,
who said that He was alive. [24] Some of those who were with us went
to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did
not see." [25] And He said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Was it not
necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His
glory?" [27] And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He
interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself.

[28] So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He
appeared to be going further, [29] but they constrained Him, saying,
"Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent."
So He went in to stay with them. [30] When He was at table with them,
He took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. [31]
And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished out
of their sight. [32] They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn
within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the
Scriptures?" [33] And they rose that same hour and returned to
Jerusalem; and they found the Eleven gathered together and those who
were with them, [34] who said, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has
appeared to Simon!" [35] Then they told what had happened on the road,
and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Commentary:

13-35. In the course of their conversation with Jesus, the disciples'
mood changes from sadness to joy; they begin to hope again, and feel
the need to share their joy with others, thus becoming heralds and
witnesses of the risen Christ.

This is an episode exclusive to St. Luke, who describes it in a
masterly way. It shows our Lord's zeal for souls. "As He is walking
along, Christ meets two men who have nearly lost all hope. They are
beginning to feel that life has no meaning for them. Christ
understands their sorrow; He sees into their heart and communicates to
them some of the life He carries within Himself."

"When they draw near the village, He makes as if to go on, but the two
disciples stop Him and practically force Him to stay with them. They
recognize Him later when He breaks the bread. The Lord, they
exclaimed, has been with us! `And they said to each other: "Did not
our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He
opened to us the Scriptures?"' (Luke 24:32). Every Christian should
make Christ present among men. He ought to act in such a way that
those who know Him sense `the aroma of Christ' (cf. 2 Corinthians
2:15). Men should be able to recognize the Master in His disciples"
([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 105).

13-27. Jesus' conversation with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus
gives us a very good idea of the disillusionment felt by His disciples
after His apparent total failure. Cleopas' words summarize Christ's
life and mission (verse 19), His passion and death (verse 20), the
despair felt by His disciples (verse 21), and the events of that Sunday
morning (verse 22).

Earlier, Jesus had said to the Jews: "You search the Scriptures,
because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they
that bear witness to Me" (John 5:39). In saying this He indicated the
best way for us to get to know Him. Pope Paul VI points out that today
also frequent reading of and devotion to Holy Scripture is a clear
inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "The progress made in biblical studies,
the increasing dissemination of the Sacred Scriptures, and above all
the example of tradition and the interior action of the Holy Spirit are
tending to cause the modern Christian to use the Bible ever
increasingly as the basic prayerbook and to draw from it genuine
inspiration and unsurpassable examples" ([Pope] Paul VI, "Marialis
Cultus", 30).

Because the disciples are so downhearted, Jesus patiently opens for
them the meaning of all the Scriptural passages concerning the
Messiah. "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these
things and enter into His glory?": with these words He disabuses them
of the notion of an earthly and political Messiah and shows them that
Christ's mission is a supernatural one--to save all mankind.

Sacred Scripture contained the prophecy that God would bring about
salvation through the redemptive passion and death of the Messiah. The
Cross does not mean failure: it is the route chosen by God for Christ
to achieve definitive victory over sin and death (cf. 1 Corinthians
1:23-24). Many of our Lord's contemporaries failed to understand His
supernatural mission because they misinterpreted the Old Testament
texts. No one knew the meaning of Sacred Scripture like Jesus. And,
after Him, only the Church has the mission and responsibility of

conserving Scripture and interpreting it correctly: "All that has been
said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject
to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred
commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of
God" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 12).

28-35. The Master's presence and words restore the disciples' spirits
and give them new and lasting hope. "There were two disciples on their
way to Emmaus. They were walking along at a normal pace, like so many
other travelers on that road. And there, without any fuss, Jesus
appears to them, and walks with them, His conversation helping to
alleviate their tiredness. I can well imagine the scene, just as dusk
is falling. A gentle breeze is blowing. All around are fields ripe
with wheat, and venerable olive trees, their branches shimmering in the
soft glowing light.

"Jesus joins them as they go along their way. Lord, how great you are,
in everything! But You move me even more when You come down to our
level, to follow us and to seek us in the hustle and bustle of each
day. Lord, grant us a childlike spirit, pure eyes and a clear mind so
that we may recognize You when You come without any outward sign of
Your glory.

"The journey ends when they reach the village. The two disciples who,
without realizing it, have been deeply stirred by the words and love
shown by God made man, are sorry to see Him leaving. For Jesus
`appeared to be going further' (Luke 24:28). This Lord of ours never
forces Himself on us. He wants us to turn to Him freely, when we begin
to grasp the purity of His Love which He has placed in our souls. We
have to hold Him back (`they constrained Him') and beg Him: `Stay with
us, for it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent' (Luke
24:29).

"That's just like us--always short on daring, perhaps because we are
insincere, or because we feel embarrassed. Deep down, what we are
really thinking is: `Stay with us, because our souls are shrouded in
darkness and You alone are the light. You alone can satisfy this
longing that consumes us.' For `we know full well which among all
things fair and honorable is the best--to possess God for ever' (St.
Gregory Nazianzen, "Epistulae", 212).

"And Jesus stays. Our eyes are opened, as were those of Cleopas and
his companion, when Christ breaks the bread; and, though He vanishes
once more from sight, we too will find strength to start out once
more--though night is falling--to tell the others about Him, because so
much joy cannot be kept in one heart alone.

"The road to Emmaus--our God has filled this name with sweetness. Now
the entire world has become an Emmaus, for the Lord has opened up all
the divine paths of the earth" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 313f).

32. If you were an apostle, these words of the disciples of Emmaus
should rise spontaneously to the lips of your professional companions
when they meet you along the way of their lives" ("The Way", 917).

33-35. The disciples now feel the need to return to Jerusalem
immediately; there they find the Apostles and some other disciples
gathered together with Peter, to whom Jesus has appeared.

In sacred history, Jerusalem was the place where God chose to be
praised in a very special way and where the prophets carried out their
main ministry. God willed that Christ should suffer, die and rise
again in Jerusalem, and from there the Kingdom of God begins to spread
(cf. Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8). In the New Testament the Church of Christ
is described as "the Jerusalem above" (Galatians 4:26), "the Heavenly
Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22) and the "new Jerusalem" (Revelation 21:2).

The Church began in the Holy City. Later on, St. Peter, not without a
special intervention of Providence, moved to Rome, thereby making that
city the center of the Church. Just as Peter strengthened these first
disciples in the faith, so too Christians of all generations have
recourse to the See of Peter to strengthen their faith and thereby
build up the unity of the Church: "Take away the Pope and the Catholic
Church would no longer be catholic. Moreover, without the supreme,
effective and authoritative pastoral office of Peter the unity of
Christ's Church would collapse. It would be vain to look for other
principles of unity in place of the true one established by Christ
Himself [...]. We would add that this cardinal principle of holy
Church is not a supremacy of spiritual pride and a desire to dominate
mankind, but a primacy of service, ministration and love. It is no
vapid rhetoric which confers on Christ's vicar the title: `Servant of
the servants of God'" ([Pope] Paul VI, "Ecclesiam Suam", 83).