Octave of Easter - Wednesday
Octave of Easter - Wednesday
First Reading Acts 3:1-10
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles
What I do have I give you: in the name of the Lord Jesus,
rise and walk.
Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the
three o’clock hour of prayer. And a man crippled from birth
was carried and placed at the gate of the temple called
“the Beautiful Gate” every day to beg for alms from the
people who entered the temple. When he saw Peter and John
about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. But Peter
looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at
us.” He paid attention to them, expecting to receive
something from them. Peter said, “I have neither silver
nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of
Jesus christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.” Then Peter
took him by the right hand and raised him up, and
immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. He leaped
up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple
with them, walking and jumping and praising God. When
all the people saw him walking and praising God, they
recognized him as the one who used to sit begging at
the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled
with amazement and astonishment at what had happened
to him.
Alleluia, alleluia Ps 118:24
This is the day the Lord has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel Lk 24:13-35
They recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel According to Luke
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’
disciples were going to a village seven miles from
Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing
about all the things that had occurred. And it happened
that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus
himself drew near and walked with them, but their
eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked
them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named
Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only
visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?” And he
replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said
to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the
Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people, how our chief priests
and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of
death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he
would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all
this, it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded
us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and
did not find his Body; they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who
announced that he was alive. Then some of those
with us went to the tomb and found things just as
the women had described, but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should
suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him in all
the Scriptures. As they approached the village to
which they were going, he gave the impression that
he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay
with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is
almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at
table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it,
and gave it to them. With that their eyes were
opened and they recognized him, but he vanished
from their sight. Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he
spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures
to us?” So they set out at once and returned to
Jerusalem where they found gathered together the
Eleven and those with them who were saying, “The
Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to
Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken
place on the way and how he was made known to
them in the breaking of the bread.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection:
This resurrection narrative from Luke is a popular
passage used by those who wish to encourage people
in discouraging or disheartening life situations.
It is a story of two disciples who felt discouraged
by the death of Jesus and were sharing this event
in a downcast mood on the way to Emmaus. As the
story progresses, we see Jesus appearing to them
but they did not recognized Him. They only
recognized Him when He broke bread with them in
a meal.
This gospel account invites us to examine our
Christian life and see those experiences when
we felt discouraged and disheartened in our life.
During those times, what did we do? Did we see
those times as opportunities for growth in faith?
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