“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” – Luke 24:38
ABANDON SHIP
We were rafting in the vast Mongolian outback when all of a sudden the darkest clouds descended on our parade. Soon, we were twisting, turning, hitting rocks of all sizes left and right, freezing in our totally-penetrable-by-wind-and-water attire, with no cell phone in our possession, and no public transport or even people (only horses!) in sight. Instead of powering through torrential rain and rough waters for over 10 kilometers, we decided to cut our rafting adventure short and abandon our raft, hoping to God that somehow, some Good Samaritan would help us find our way back to our in-the-middleof-nowhere camp.
It took a while, but in spite of physical and mental exhaustion and the
huge language barrier, help did eventually come. We just had to stay
strong against the doubts that were rising in our minds.
The same is true with every challenge that comes our way. No matter how
bleak our situation may be, we can trust that our perseverance and
faith will always be rewarded in the long run. We may have to abandon
ship, but we should never abandon hope! Ria Macasaet
1ST READING
Peter
is just as surprised as everyone else at the healing of the cripple.
This story ought to bring great confidence to us when we ask God to work
miracles in our lives. He has done it before and He will do it again.
The biggest lesson here is one of trust. Peter trusted that God would
hear his prayer and act upon it. Do we trust that God will hear our
prayers and act upon them?
Acts 3:11-26
11 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.” 12 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? 13 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. 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. 16 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. 17 Now I know, brothers and sisters, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; 18 but
God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. 19 Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, 20 and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom
heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which
God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. 22 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. 23 Everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be cut off from the people.’ 24 Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. 25 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.’ 26 For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”
P S A L M
Psalm 8:2, 5, 6-7, 8-9
R: O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
1 [2] O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! 4 [5] What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? (R) 5 [6] You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 [7] You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet. (R) 7 [8] All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, 8 [9] the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas. (R)
GOSPEL
Jesus
is always in our midst. He promised that we will never be orphaned. It
is important that we believe this in order to open up our faith to a new
degree. If we believe that Jesus is beside us in all that we do, we
will be empowered to a degree that we will find difficult to comprehend.
The power of God is beyond what we can imagine. Let us allow ourselves
to be instruments of God’s grace in the world.
Luke 24:35-48
35 The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way, and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread. 36 While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? 39 Look
at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because
a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” 40 And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of baked fish; 43 he took it and ate it in front of them. 44 He
said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still
with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in
the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.”
REFLECTION
THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER
The
Paschal Mystery is primarily a celebration of the most important and
central Jesus events. These events center around the mystery of the
cross, and they particularly include the suffering, death and
resurrection of Jesus. Of these events, the resurrection opened the
grave for Jesus to come out in glory; it also opened something more
important — the gates of heaven. By rising victoriously from death,
Jesus defeats the power of evil and makes it possible for us to enter
into a new level of intimacy with God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even
in the way we celebrate the Church’s liturgy, Easter leads us to
Pentecost — the Feast of the Holy Spirit — and to the solemn feast of
the Blessed Trinity.
The mystery of the incarnation, when Jesus the Word became enfleshed in
the womb of the Blessed Mother through the Holy Spirit, unites heaven
to earth. Now, the paschal mystery opens heaven for the earth.
Our belief in the resurrection of Jesus is not just a message of hope
and salvation. The event of the resurrection is not just the great proof
of the true faith that we profess. The resurrection of Jesus stirs us
to see beyond — to have transcendence — far above the mundane and
material concerns that we need to face.
We are made for heaven and we are but pilgrims on earth. We are
destined to be with God and not just to live as mortals in pitiable
state. Our citizenship is in heaven — and whatever life we live on
earth, we are all “resident aliens” in this part of life. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
"Lord, help me to never give up hope, especially when it’s so easy to do. And help me to live each day with heaven as my goal."
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