GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Luke 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 bread.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Jesus’ encounter with the two disciples of Emmaus is a fleeting one. But the entire destiny of the Church is contained within it. It tells us that the Christian community is not enclosed within a fortified citadel, but rather journeys along its most essential environment, which is the road. And there, it encounters people with their hopes and disappointments, burdensome at times. The Church listens to everyone’s stories as they emerge from the treasure chest of personal conscience, in order to then offer the Word of Life, the witness of love, a love that is faithful until the end. And thus, the hearts of people reignite with hope. (General audience, 24 may 2017)
READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Acts of the Apostles ACTS 2:14, 22-33
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me, with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.
“My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption. God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”
Second reading from the first letter of Peter 1 PT 1:17-21
Beloved: If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
FAUSTI - In this narration, in which we pass from "not recognizing" to "recognizing" the Lord Jesus, Luke retraces the synthesis of the whole itinerary proposed to his reader. From the beginning he set out to make Theophilus recognize the validity of the Word in which he was instructed. And he does it in two successive stages, which correspond to the two parts of his Gospel: the listening to the Lord who proclaims the Word and the vision of His Face culminating in the Cross. At the centre of the double catechesis there is the mystery of the Son of man who died and is resurrected, before Whom every man is "headless and slow of heart in believing". The meaning of the whole Gospel that Luke proposes to the believer is to make him know Jesus well, so that he may know Him again without mistaking Him for another! The two disciples know the Scriptures. But they reject the scandal of the Cross, ignoring that it is the key to entering it and understanding it. The dead and risen Lord - of Whom the Gospel tells us and of Whom we Memorialize in the Eucharist - leads us to welcome the history of Jesus as the realization and explanation of the whole plan of salvation. We too, like the women and like Peter, can go on pilgrimage to the tomb. Like them, we find it empty. The Living One is not there. But he has not left us. He is on the roads of the world until His Kingdom is fulfilled. He, the only Son who always dwells with the Father, has gone out in search of the other ninety-nine lost brothers. He follows them, meets them and accompanies them, to transform their exile from escape into pilgrimage. The nostalgia - which remains and is manifested in the desire "Marana -tha" - from grief for an ever more improbable soon return becomes a joyful rush to the Father's house. Like the two of Emmaus, He becomes close to all of us. He takes the same ours steps , both of disappointment and of hope, both of death and of life. He meets us in our daily life as wayfarers, associating Himself with our journey, wherever we go. He does not stray from us, even though we are straying from Him. The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost (Lk 5:32 - 19:10). Our heart is dead and frozen. Our eyes, seized with fear, are incapable of recognizing Him. They have been closed ever since, at the foot of the tree, the lie opened them to our nakedness. But now He who was hung from the tree warms our hearts and clears our sight. He Himself opens the Scriptures to us and opens our eyes wide. Even though he becomes invisible, we know that he has entered to remain with us. With His Strength we make the Holy Journey, which puts us in communion of faith and life with the first disciples. We too "recognize" the Living One. God is the Emmanuel. Not only "He who is" but "He who is with". In fact, He is Love, victory over solitude and death. That is why He remains always with us, or rather, "in us". For "he who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, dwells in me and I in him." (Jn 6:56). the Word and the Bread, with which HE remains in our spirit and in our flesh, are the viaticum of the Church, to the end of time. Man becomes the Word who listens and lives by the Bread he eats. The Word and the Body of the Son assimilate us to Him, giving us His own Spirit, which is the strength to live as children of the Father and as brothers among us.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFrom the Gospel according to Luke
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 bread.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Jesus’ encounter with the two disciples of Emmaus is a fleeting one. But the entire destiny of the Church is contained within it. It tells us that the Christian community is not enclosed within a fortified citadel, but rather journeys along its most essential environment, which is the road. And there, it encounters people with their hopes and disappointments, burdensome at times. The Church listens to everyone’s stories as they emerge from the treasure chest of personal conscience, in order to then offer the Word of Life, the witness of love, a love that is faithful until the end. And thus, the hearts of people reignite with hope. (General audience, 24 may 2017)
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Acts of the Apostles
ACTS 2:14, 22-33
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.
“My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”
Second reading from the first letter of Peter
1 PT 1:17-21
Beloved:
If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
FAUSTI - In this narration, in which we pass from "not recognizing" to "recognizing" the Lord Jesus, Luke retraces the synthesis of the whole itinerary proposed to his reader. From the beginning he set out to make Theophilus recognize the validity of the Word in which he was instructed. And he does it in two successive stages, which correspond to the two parts of his Gospel: the listening to the Lord who proclaims the Word and the vision of His Face culminating in the Cross.
RispondiEliminaAt the centre of the double catechesis there is the mystery of the Son of man who died and is resurrected, before Whom every man is "headless and slow of heart in believing".
The meaning of the whole Gospel that Luke proposes to the believer is to make him know Jesus well, so that he may know Him again without mistaking Him for another!
The two disciples know the Scriptures. But they reject the scandal of the Cross, ignoring that it is the key to entering it and understanding it.
The dead and risen Lord - of Whom the Gospel tells us and of Whom we Memorialize in the Eucharist - leads us to welcome the history of Jesus as the realization and explanation of the whole plan of salvation.
We too, like the women and like Peter, can go on pilgrimage to the tomb.
Like them, we find it empty. The Living One is not there. But he has not left us.
He is on the roads of the world until His Kingdom is fulfilled. He, the only Son who always dwells with the Father, has gone out in search of the other ninety-nine lost brothers.
He follows them, meets them and accompanies them, to transform their exile from escape into pilgrimage. The nostalgia - which remains and is manifested in the desire "Marana -tha" - from grief for an ever more improbable soon return becomes a joyful rush to the Father's house.
Like the two of Emmaus, He becomes close to all of us.
He takes the same ours steps , both of disappointment and of hope, both of death and of life. He meets us in our daily life as wayfarers, associating Himself with our journey, wherever we go.
He does not stray from us, even though we are straying from Him.
The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost (Lk 5:32 - 19:10).
Our heart is dead and frozen. Our eyes, seized with fear, are incapable of recognizing Him. They have been closed ever since, at the foot of the tree, the lie opened them to our nakedness. But now He who was hung from the tree warms our hearts and clears our sight.
He Himself opens the Scriptures to us and opens our eyes wide.
Even though he becomes invisible, we know that he has entered to remain with us. With His Strength we make the Holy Journey, which puts us in communion of faith and life with the first disciples.
We too "recognize" the Living One.
God is the Emmanuel.
Not only "He who is" but "He who is with". In fact, He is Love, victory over solitude and death. That is why He remains always with us, or rather, "in us". For "he who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, dwells in me and I in him." (Jn 6:56). the Word and the Bread, with which HE remains in our spirit and in our flesh, are the viaticum of the Church, to the end of time.
Man becomes the Word who listens and lives by the Bread he eats.
The Word and the Body of the Son assimilate us to Him, giving us His own Spirit, which is the strength to live as children of the Father and as brothers among us.