Divine Intimacy Vol. 2 by Gabriel Father

Author:Gabriel, Father [Gabriel, Father]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spiritual & Religion
ISBN: 9780898701432
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Published: 2011-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

157—AMONG HIS OWN

Easter Thursday

The Lord has risen indeed! To him be glory and power for ever and ever! (Lk 24:34; Rev 1:6)

1. After appearing to Mary Magdalen and the other women, to Peter and to the disciples at Emmaus, Jesus showed himself on the very evening of Easter to the Eleven and to the others who were gathered together with them in Jerusalem (Lk 24:35-48). They believed in the resurrection and were talking about it: “The Lord has risen indeed. He has appeared to Simon”; furthermore they have just heard the account of the two from Emmaus. Still, when Jesus stood in their midst, “they were startled and frightened, and supposed they were seeing a spirit.” The manifestation of the divine so dazzles the human mind that doubt arises spontaneously: Can it be true? Is it my imagination? But blessed be the doubts of the disciples! They bear witness that their faith in the Risen Lord did not spring from credulity or enthusiasm, nor from suggestion, but was based on objective data examined with realistic perception. Jesus helped them himself to realize the truth of things: “See my hands and my feet, that it is myself. Handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.” They not only saw; they touched: what can be handled cannot be imaginary. But the joy of finding their Teacher alive again is so great that they still do not dare to believe. And the Lord, adapting himself more and more to their way of thinking, said: “Have you anything here to eat?” He took fish and “ate before them.” His state of glory freed him from all physical need, but he took food to prove the concrete reality of his Person. He is there in their midst in his glorified body, and if his body has special powers, such as unexpectedly appearing and disappearing, it is still his own real body, as is proved by the mark of the nails in his hands and feet (Jn 20:25-27).

The risen Lord adapted himself in his appearances with wonderful condescension to the state of mind of those to whom he showed himself. He did not treat all the same, but by different ways and methods led them all to the certainty of his resurrection. This was what mattered. The resurrection is the key to the whole of Christianity, and he wanted to give the newborn Church every guarantee of it, so that down through the centuries the faith of the faithful might rest upon a solid foundation. “The Lord is risen indeed!” Upon this great truth we can each base our own life.

2. Jesus expounded the Scriptures to the Eleven while they were gathered in Jerusalem. It was not enough for them to recognize him and to believe in his resurrection; they had to understand the intimate connection between the facts they had been witnessing, and what was written of him “in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms” (Lk 24:44).

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