OMELIE / Omelie EN

23 apr 2023

23/04/2023 – 3rd SundaySunday of Easter – year A

23/04/2023 – 3rd SundaySunday of Easter – year A

Reading 1 ACTS 2,14.22-33 Psalm 15 Reading 2 1PT 1,17-21 Gospel LK 24,13-35

After Jesus’ resurrection and after Pentecost the apostles are not who they were before any more. They become brave and look for occasions to meet the crowds that were so hostile towards their Lord and Master. So they can tell everyone that they have seen and lived the events which have changed their life: in doing so, Jesus will be known and welcomed.

Today we have listened to the first news given by Peter and by the others to the crowd gathered around their house. They have announced what God has done. The citizens of Jerusalem have killed Jesus, even though He had demonstrated He was on the weakest and most suffering people’s side and even though He had given teachings of divine wisdom to everyone; God instead has risen Him from the dead and has spread His Spirit among men. God the Father is able to use the evievdone by men to give them His love with unimaginable newness.

By listening again to this talk by Peter we believe we could experience some sign of the Father’s omnipotence nowadays too. We find ourselves in a situation similar to that one in some ways: men cannot do or decide anything but the opposite of what God asks them. What would He do in our times? Certainly He will surprise us!

The surprise was felt by those two disciples who, disconcerted and disappointed, were leaving Jerusalem. First, they have been helped by the mysterious pilgrim understand the Scriptures and see their fulfillment in the events they had witnessed and which had saddened and disappointed them. Then they had the certainty of the presence of Jesus near them, living and reassuring. They were the first to receive life, new life which was shown in the joy and in the decision to go back to Jerusalem, where they started their journey. And there they have told about their experience and have restarted living together with the whole community. They have been surprised by the discovery that the one they had invited to dinner was the Lord, risen from the dead. He had kept them company while helping them compare the Word of the Scriptures with what had happened and then, by breaking the bread, has made Himself known before disappearing under their eyes. This is particularly important for us too.

The Risen Jesus makes Himself known by breaking the bread! We are here exactly to break the bread: here is where Jesus is. We cannot see Him either, just like Cleopha and the other disciple have not seen Him, but like they had known it was Him who was talking and giving the bread of communion of faith and charity, so today we know that it is Jesus who is talking to us and is giving us the bread of communion, of blessing, of life and joy.

Therefore we welcome Saint Peter’s invitation, surprised by the faith of the Christians he was writing to. They are living far from Jerusalem, in Galatia, in the middle of today’s Turkey, and they have never seen Jesus. There we are, even if they have never seen Him, they love Him and live the faith in Him.

We too are the target of Peter’s admiration, because we believe in and love the Lord Jesus, and we are faithful to Him in our temptations and tests. Peter continues to push us so we behave in a way to give glory to God the Father. The latter judges us with His love, so we live in his fear, careful not to smear with our sin the love He dishes out on us and all the other men.

We are relieved we live in a different manner than the world, even if we are rejected by it. We can then offer Jesus a more solid proof of our adhesion to Him. We can rejoice we are salt of the earth and light of the world, thanks to our faithfulness. The fact that the world is rejecting us is a sign that we are not in sync with those who reject Jesus and is presence as Risen.