Once again, Jesus enters the lives of his disciples as they try to process their experience of the empty tomb. They are filled with fear and amazement at his sudden appearance in their locked upper room.
Jesus wants to emphasise the physical reality of his resurrection. He invites them to look at his wounds. Jesus asks for fish and
eats it in their presence. He is no ghost; he is the same Jesus they have walked with and seen hanging on the cross.
We are often tempted to dematerialise Jesus in our lives. We think of him as pure spirit, disembodied, and distant. However, Jesus was resurrected both in body and spirit.
What does this mean for us? How can Jesus be physically present in
today’s world? What does it mean in our time that he is the Word incarnate?
Today, we are invited to look for the resurrected Jesus in our material and physical reality. How is he present in the beauty of the world around us? How does he become present in our bodies when we use them for love: in a warm embrace, in a hand that offers food to the hungry, in tears dripping from our eyes, or in mouths speaking words of
love?
How have I experienced the material and physical reality of the resurrected Lord?
Reflections by Sean van Staden SJ
