Lent lasts 40 days; the Season of Easter lasts 50. Week by week, we are given a look at the New Life given to us through the Resurrection of Jesus and through the action of the Holy Spirit among us.
Lent was about Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. We were diligent in our efforts to prepare for Easter. It is tempting in this season simply to “lighten up” on the practices that we chose for Lent and to allow that to be the extent of our practice for the Easter Season. Instead, it is fitting to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and to put into practice the power of the Risen Jesus that is alive in us.
The Responsorial Psalm’s refrain points us in the right direction: “Lord, you will show us the path of life.” Easter shows us the path to glory that God wills for us through the Paschal Mystery: the life, suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus. The Easter Season invites us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as we are plunged more deeply into this Mystery.
The Acts of the Apostles shows the unfolding of the Gift of Life in the early Church. On the day of Pentecost, Peter announces to all: “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.” This is the Kerygma, the original preaching of the Gospel and all are invited to respond. This message is the very purpose of the life of the Church. We are witnesses,
A witness sees what happens and testifies, that is, speaks forth plainly about what has been experienced. For this to happen among us, we must accept the message proclaimed by the Apostles and allow it to penetrate our consciousness. We must seek to understand and live it in our own lives.
Luke’s narrative about the disciples on the road to Emmaus takes us back to Easter evening. The Resurrection at that moment is a rumor, a story told by the women who went to the tomb. As yet, the disciples have not understood. Their anguish at the death of Jesus keeps them from grasping the fulfillment of the promises He made. Jesus comes to them and opens their minds to the Scriptures. The Risen Lord Himself walks with them, speaks to them, helps them to understand what the Scriptures prophesied about Him. He touches them right in the heart of their pain.
The breaking of the bread calls to mind what had occurred three days before, the Paschal Meal the night before Jesus died. “With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.”
Only after His disappearance do the disciples reflect upon the depth of their encounter with Him. They feel in their own bodies and spirits the effects of the Resurrection. “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?’” At once, they return to Jerusalem and rejoin the community they had left behind in sorrow. The Gospel proclamation is affirmed, and the assembly becomes aware that the Lord is truly Risen. “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
In the days and weeks ahead, we are called to allow the Gospel to sink into our own minds and hearts. Just as the first hearers of the Good News were able to integrate their experience of the Risen Lord by sharing the stories of their encounters with Him, we too are invited to bring the Message of Hope to our world.
How has the Risen Lord made Himself known to you? Do you allow Him to open your mind to the Scriptures? Do you see Him in the breaking of the bread and in the community of believers? What is the journey that lies ahead of you as a witness to the power of the Resurrection in our world?
“Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts burn while you speak to us.”
