The Gospel for Thursday in the octave of Easter is taken from St. Luke 24th, chapter 35, 48, verse. The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of the 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 they had seen 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 is I myself. Teach me and see. Because a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you can see, I have. And 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. The thing that strikes me in this reading is the image that, in a sense, the disciples had all the information in them already of who Jesus would be. They had heard these stories and they knew about him. And yet they didn’t understand what they knew.

They had to be awakened to the depth and the reality of it. And so it’s important for you and for me to know that. We listen to Scripture. We hear all the stories about who he is, but do we really see him as he is? Are we in touch with his presence, like they were invited to be in touch with his closing prayer? Father, we have information about you.

We are told so many things about you. But there’s something that you have planned for us. An experience of you, a frightening and even terrifying but yet amazingly hopeful message that is in the flesh, something we see and feel for ourselves. Bless us with that insight and fill us with wonder. Amen.