April 11, 2012

Wednesday within the Octave of Easter

Reading 1 Acts 3:1-10

Peter and John were going up to the temple area
for the three o'clock hour of prayer.
And a man crippled from birth was carried
and placed at the gate of the temple called "the Beautiful Gate" every day
to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple.
When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he asked for alms.
But Peter looked intently at him, as did John,
and said, "Look at us."
He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said, "I have neither silver nor gold,
but what I do have I give you:
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk."
Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong.
He leaped up, stood, and walked around,
and went into the temple with them,
walking and jumping and praising God.
When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
they recognized him as the one
who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple,
and they were filled with amazement and astonishment
at what had happened to him.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9

R. (3b) Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generationsB
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel Lk 24:13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus' disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
"What are you discussing as you walk along?"
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?"
And he replied to them, "What sort of things?"
They said to him,
"The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see."
And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?"
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, "Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over."
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
"Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
"The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!"
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

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 Tem-
ple mentions a gate of this name. It was probably the Gate of Nicanor (or Corin-
thian 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 struc-
ture 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 inten-
tion 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 po-
wer, 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’ in-
volvement: they occur because our Lord is moved to perform them by the Apos-
tles’ faith (faith is an essential pre-condition). The disciples are conscious of ha-
ving 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 con-
tinue 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 pro-
nounce 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 from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 24:13-35

The Road To Emmaus

[13] That very day two of them (disciples) were going to a village named Em-
maus, 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, loo-
king 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 be-
fore 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 a-
mazed 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 suf-
fer 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 to-
ward 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 brea-
king of the bread.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

13-35. In the course of their conversation with Jesus, the disciples’ mood chan-
ges 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 communi-
cates 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 Chris-
tian 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 exam-
ples” 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 contempora-
ries 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 wat-
ching 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 every-
thing! 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 child-
like 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, “Epistolae”, 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 fal-
ling — 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” (Gala-
tians 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 su-
preme, 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 de-
sire 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 ser-
vants of God’” (Paul VI, “Ecclesiam Suam”, 83).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Mass Readings

First reading	Acts 3:1-10 ©

Once, when Peter and John were going up to the Temple for the prayers at the ninth hour, it happened that there was a man being carried past. He was a cripple from birth; and they used to put him down every day near the Temple entrance called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from the people going in. When this man saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple he begged from them. Both Peter and John looked straight at him and said, ‘Look at us.’ He turned to them expectantly, hoping to get something from them, but Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!’ Peter then took him by the hand and helped him to stand up. Instantly his feet and ankles became firm, he jumped up, stood, and began to walk, and he went with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God. Everyone could see him walking and praising God, and they recognised him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were all astonished and unable to explain what had happened to him.

Psalm	Psalm 104:1-4,6-9 ©