3rd Sunday of Easter

This Sunday’s gospel text is Luke 24:35-48.

The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus often feature those gathered recognising him only when bread is broken and shared.

The Second Vatican Council speaks of four different ways that Jesus brings about this recognition in the eucharist. He is present in the eucharistic meal, where he gives his body and blood as food and drink. He is present and speaks to us when the word of God is proclaimed in our midst. And he is present in the priest who presides over our worship, for it is Jesus himself who is the true leader of our worship.

But the most fundamental mode of Jesus presence is his presence in the assembly itself, in the people who gather. This presence of Jesus is, sadly, the one least recognised by Catholics today. We seem to find it easier to recognise Jesus in a little piece of bread than in another human being.

This seems quite odd, really, because a person looks much more like Jesus himself than does a piece of bread. Why is it, do you suppose, that we find it easier to recognise his presence in a piece of bread? Is it, maybe, because the bread never talks back and never surprises us? Bread is certainly easier to handle than another person is. It may even be easier to swallow, too! And yet the primary place Jesus has chosen to dwell is in people. The tabernacle which Jesus chose as his premier dwelling place was not a metal or wooden box in a church building. His primary dwelling place is in each of us. We are each a tabernacle where he dwells.

In the years following the Second Vatican Council, many complained that the new liturgy didnt have the same sense of reverence as the Latin Mass. What many were experiencing was a shift in the way that reverence is expressed. In the past we tended to express reverence primarily in negative ways. We didnt enter the sanctuary, we didnt talk in church, we didnt touch the chalice, and we didnt chew the host. But reverence can be expressed by how we do things as well as by not doing things.

When we share Jesus body and blood in the eucharistic meal, reverence calls us to respond to his presence by entering into communion with him and with all the members of his body. When Jesus speaks to us in the word proclaimed by the lector and commentator, reverence demands that we listen with open ears and open hearts. When Jesus reveals his presence as the leader of our worship through the priest who presides, reverence requires that we enter into the worship wholeheartedly, joining in the hymns and prayers and rituals that make up the liturgy.

Hospitality at worship is an expression of reverence for the presence of Jesus in each member of the assembly. To ignore those who gather with us to celebrate the liturgy is irreverent; it is to ignore Jesus himself. To welcome them into our lives is to welcome Jesus himself.

We would do well to recover the ancient sense of reverence toward each person as a temple of the Lord. Each member of the assembly is called to show reverence to the Jesus who dwells in all whom we meet. The flow of reverence is mutual, for Jesus dwells in the person who welcomes as well as in the person who is welcomed. Jesus welcomes Jesus in a mutual recognition of our deepest identity.