Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In this Sunday’s gospel, we have another account of Jesus appearing to his disciples. Consistently when Jesus appears, the first thing he says is: “Peace be with you.” The presence of Jesus brings peace, a calmness of soul that is beyond the immediate circumstance of our lives. But the gospel says that initially the disciples were startled and terrified because they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus shows them his wounds and asks them for something to eat, reassuring them that it was really him. He then reminds them what he told them before his passion and that everything written about him in the scriptures had been fulfilled, 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. Then he tells them; “You are witnesses of these things.”

Being a follower of Jesus means being a witness. Peter, in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles says; “The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.” We, too, are called to be witnesses of the great things that God has done in our lives.

Let’s pray today that God would fill us with the Holy Spirit as he did the disciples and that He would give us the grace to be bold witnesses to the love of God.

God bless,
Fr. Tony