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Gospel Reading for April 24, 2025 – Luke 24: 35-48
FIRST MOVE
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. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? 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.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.
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.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
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FORGIVENESS is such a beautiful thing, especially when the people we have wronged are close to us. As we all make mistakes, it can happen too between relatives and friends. Those who had partnerships, friendships for a long time and had a falling out know how PRECIOUS it is because it leads to the path of RECONCILIATION.
Sometimes, RECONCILIATION takes long because of our pride. We think that the one who did wrong should make the FIRST MOVE to reconcile. That is “we” and not God.
We had a falling out with God because we chose to be on the side of the adversary. It wasn’t his fault, it was our fault, and yet, he made the FIRST MOVE to reconcile us to him and get back what we had lost. It did not matter that he is the Giver of Life and all good things. It did not matter that he is the most superior and above all of us. He “stooped to our level” when Jesus, his Son, became man. He chose a poor family to be the family of his only Son, Jesus, and not from the learned, from the elite. Perhaps, if he were born to the family of a Pharisee, things would have turned out differently. But all these did not matter to God. His focus was RECONCILATION with all of his creation until the end of time! NOTHING AND NO ONE CAN COME IN BETWEEN since Jesus’ Resurrection!
ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! JESUS IS RISEN FOREVER!
