April 21, 2022—Thursday of Easter Week

USCCB Readings

“ ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

These witnesses, the disciples, recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Yet, they still were to experience the peace of Christ present among them, in flesh and blood the Messiah spoken of by the prophets and in the Old Testament. To this, Jesus opened the minds of the disciples.

God, help me understand why your risen Son appeared before the disciples in flesh and blood, eating in front of them. “Touch me and see me.” In his ministry, Jesus lived in a way that revealed his divine identity. After the Resurrection, he returns to the disciples to reveal that he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets—the Messiah.

One of the evangelists tells the story of Jesus encountering a blind man. Jesus asks him what he wishes. The man says, “Lord, I want to see.” God invites us to see him, all distractions and filters aside, for who he really is. That’s the task of a lifetime.

I want to touch and see Jesus today, not in His flesh and blood but in the face of others who are troubled and full of questions. Help me to be a means of peace to them, not of this world, but that of the risen Christ.

April 20, 2022—Wednesday of Easter Week

USCCB Readings

“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?’ ”

In yesterday’s reading, it was Mary Magdalene who did not recognize Jesus (“When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.”); today, it’s Cleopas and another follower of Jesus (“but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him”).

God, help me understand that there are bound to be countless times today when I don’t recognize you, where my eyes prevent me from recognizing you even when you are in plain sight.

With all of the distractions I face when I quiet myself, it is sometimes all I can do to say, “Here, God, this is all yours. I don’t know what to do with it. Take it, bless it, make it into something good.”

Today let me be full-sighted, to understand that seeing what is right before me is sometimes an illusion—the work I have ahead of me, the tasks I hope to accomplish before the day is over, the hundred little distractions. God, help me to recognize you and, even more, do your will.