Friday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59)
Today’s first reading helps us appreciate the Easter
mystery. Saul, on his way to Damascus,
has a vision of the risen Lord. What does
he see? The passage does not say
directly. It says that there was “a light
from the sky” evidently so intense that Saul reacted by falling to the ground
in fear. The peculiarity of this vision
should be compared to the oddities of other visions of the resurrected Jesus.
In his appearance to Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John Jesus
cannot be readily recognized. He looks different:
the text says like a gardener. In the appearance
on the road to Emmaus, the two disciples likewise cannot identify their teacher
until he breaks bread with them.
Similarly, when the resurrected Jesus invites his disciples to breakfast
on the shore of Lake Tiberias, none but the Beloved Disciple recognize him on
sight. This disciple was the one who
believed in Jesus from seeing his burial cloths in his tomb.
Upon seeing the light in today’s reading from Acts, Saul is
blinded. He is forced to look inwardly to know himself and, more importantly,
to recall the Scriptures. With this
introspection and recollection, he can understand what the voice from the sky
told him: “’I am Jesus …’” As this name
indicates, Jesus is the one through whom God saves. He fulfills our deepest longings for truth,
justice, and love. His resurrected body,
though indescribable, is God’s verification that his mission has been
accomplished. It begs us, as it did
those who saw it, to believe in him.
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