Thursday in the Octave of Easter
(Acts 3:11-26; Luke
24:35-48)
“Ignorance of
Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,” St. Jerome wrote. Jesus verifies this bold statement in today’s
gospel.
The disciples have
returned from Emmaus to share what happened to them. When they meet the eleven apostles, they are
told that Peter has also seen the risen Lord.
Then Jesus appears among them. He
eats some food to show that his body has truly risen from the dead. Then he explains how the Scriptures foretold
all that happened to him. He indicates
as well that the Scriptures have given his disciples a role in his story. The Scriptures say that repentance for the
forgiveness of sins must be preached in Jesus’ name.
As Jesus’ disciples,
we are to preach repentance in his name.
We may ask ourselves what repentance looks like today. A popular prayer attributed to St. Francis
provides a preliminary answer. Repentance is to seek not to be consoled but to
console, not to be understood but to understand, not to be loved but to
love.
