April 18, 2021

3rd Sunday of Easter (B)

Changes and Charges from the Cenacle

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

The Gospels make no secret of the fact that the apostles had abandoned the Lord and that in fear and shame they retreated into an Upper Room and locked the doors. That room became the refuge of their doubts and despair. But the Gospel also relates that in spite of it all, the Lord did not abandon them. Appearing in their midst, the Lord does three amazing things.

The first is to allay their deep fears and shame. We hear no scolding for their failure but the comforting greeting: “Peace be with you.” The Lord is rich in mercy and always ready to forgive.

The second thing the Lord does is strengthen the apostles’ faith in the reality of his bodily resurrection. He wants to make clear that he is not a spirit or a ghost but that he has a real body of flesh and bones! His hands and feet reveal the marks of his crucifixion. He even invites the apostles to touch him. The Lord even asks for something to eat and consumes a piece of fish in their presence, impossible for a ghost or spirit!

The Lord’s third action is to open their minds and explains the Scriptures, which is essential to understanding his passion and resurrection, and then commissions the apostles to preach repentance of sin--conversion to all nations…to be his witnesses!

This is our Cenacle. Here Jesus makes himself really and truly present in our midst. We come here to be strengthened to be his witnesses and we keep coming back to be renewed for this task when we are weary. We come back to be reminded of the Lord’s love and forgiveness. We come back to be refreshed by one another, to encourage one another in faith.

In our daily lives we get battered about by all sorts of things that can test our faith and challenge our hope. Bad news is all around. Friends get sick, loved ones die, relationships collapse. jobs are lost, we can point to deceptions and lies.

Where shall we go but to our upper room! Here we hear the word of God that illumines the path of our life. Here we are nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. Through the powerful graces that flow from the Mass, the Lord helps us to face all those things that test our faith and challenge our hope. We can’t run from any of the tragedies of life, but we can fall back on what we experience in this Cenacle…the Upper Room of the Eucharist. We must bring this hope, this strength to all we meet.

In his book, “My Other Self.” Deacon Clarence Enzler reflects on the Eucharist and places these words on the lips of Jesus:

“When you begin to understand the Eucharist…you will begin to comprehend the depths of my love for you. Look at the Host…a wafer of bread. Never were appearances so deceiving! The host is myself…healer of lepers, giver of sight…he who wept at Lazarus’ grave, who asked drink of the Samaritan woman…who forgave the adulteress…the Teacher, the Savior. Can you think of a better way for me to give you spiritual sustenance? Do you not see the love that prompts your God…how zealously I work to bring you close to me? To give myself to you…I have to make myself unlike you. I hid myself under the likeness of common food because I did not want you to shrink from coming to me. When I come to you in the Eucharist, I am in you! You are in me! In the Eucharist we become one flesh. You work not alone, but I work in you. You serve others not alone. I serve in you. You suffer not alone, but I suffer in you. You adore with me; you give thanks with me; you love with me; you live now, not yourself, but I live in you.”