YOU ACTED IN IGNORANCE…

Acts 3:11-26 
11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomons, astounded.12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people, “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
13 The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,15 and killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.16 And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
20 and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,21 whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.
22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.23 And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came afterwards, also proclaimed these days.
25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God gave to your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your posterity shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Luke 24:35-48 

35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.36 As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you.”37 But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit.38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts?
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,43 and he took it and ate before them.44 Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.48 You are witnesses of these things.

MEDITATION 

THE FIRST READING: The thirty five year old paralyzed beggar who was miraculously healed by the prayer invocation of Peter and John, clung to the two Apostles as a child would hold unto the hem of his mother. This occasion was an opportune moment for Peter to evangelize the bemused and enamored temple dwellers, when he called them to repent of their sins—turn from their wicked ways—so they can be refreshed—made new in baptism upon which they would be confirmed to sit in the presence of God at the Holy Eucharitic table. 

THE GOSPEL READING: Following their encounter with Christ who opened their eyes when He broke the Word and gave them a portion of the Bread He broke, the Emmaus dwellers immediately returned to Jerusalem to inform the eleven Apostles that they had an encounter with Christ. With this said, Jesus entered the Upper Room to evidence His bodily injuries. Finally, to confirm that He was both human and divine, the resurrected Christ ate a portion of broiled fish whilst He affirmed that everything that was written of Him have been fulfilled, thus Jesus ordered the eleven to follow the example of the two Emmaus dwellers to go proclaim the good news to all the world!

It is indeed a sad reality that we Christians kill the author of life when we are mum when called upon to spread the gospel by word of mouth and our way of living! It seems that we have lost our pestering inquisitive childlike gifts of wonderment to discover and experience the beauty of Christ’s work of love, be it in the sacred text or at Holy Mass, the preeminent Supper of the Lamb. On the other hand it is patently clear that most of us have and are acting in ignorance when we question or challenge the validity of faith, morals and discipline as enumerated in Sacred Scripture and elucidated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We are called to have a healthy childlike curiosity to learn, hear and discover objective truth as well as have the courage to share and pass on to others, the joyous hope we have in Christ whenever we share the awestruck Eucharistic meal with in and through Him!

LET US PRAY: Psalms 8:2,5-8

2 by the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
5 Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor.6 Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet,7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea.

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.