OCTAVE EASTER, THURSDAY
Psalter: Proper / (White)
Ps 8:2ab & 5, 6-7, 8-9
O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
1st Reading: Acts 3:11-26
While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, struck with astonishment, came running to them in Solomon’s Porch, as it was called. When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as if it was by some power or holiness of our own, that we made this man walk? The God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over to death and denied before Pilate; when even Pilate had decided to release him. You rejected the Holy and Just One; and you insisted that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Master of life, but God raised him from the dead; and we are witnesses to this. It is his Name, and faith in his Name, that has healed this man, whom you see and recognize. The faith that comes through Jesus has given him wholeness in the presence of all of you.
Yet, I know that you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders. God has fulfilled, in this way, what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.
Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out; and the time of refreshment may come by the mercy of God, when he sends the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus. For he must remain in heaven, until the time of the universal restoration, which God spoke of long ago, through his holy prophets.
Moses foretold this, when he said: The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet, like me, from among your own people; you shall listen to him in all that he says to you. Whoever does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from among his people.
In fact, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, have announced the events of these days. You are the children of the prophets, and heirs of the Covenant that God gave to your ancestors, when he said to Abraham: All the families of the earth will be blessed through your descendant. It is to you, first, that God sends his Servant; he raised him to life, to bless you, by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Gospel: Lk 24:35-48
Then the two told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made himself known, when he broke bread with them.
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood in their midst. (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 how does such an idea cross your minds? Look at my hands and feet, and see that it is I myself! Touch me, and see for yourselves, for a ghost has no flesh and bones as I have!” (As he said this, he showed his hands and feet.)
Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, as they were 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, in the prophets and in the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said, “So it 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 nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.
REFLECTION:
The journey that made the two disciples flee far from Jerusalem brought them back to the place once again. They recounted to the gathered Apostles what they experienced on the road to Emmaus. They were running away from the center of the chaos of the Holy Week, but found themselves again where they first started. And it is with our life sometimes. We flee from the place only to return there. But in returning, we are not the same as before. Our journey gave us the proper depth and perspectives that helps us realize that what we are looking for are actually nearby. Perhaps it is time for us to take stock of what is there around us. Maybe, we will be able to find that which we have been looking for nearby.
Daily Reflection
Daily Gospel ® is a product Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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