Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 21, 2022
The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
“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.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”
Jesus’ resurrected body suddenly appeared to the disciples in a well-locked room but still bore pierced hands and feet and a spear wound in his side. He showed them all of his wounds. A day will come when we stand before the Lord, and he will also show them to us.
Being wounded, physically or emotionally, is the price of love. To give ourselves to another, to be united with that person in love, means that everything in their life is also part of our lives. Their joy is our joy and their sorrows, their wounds, are ours.
I have worked in Bangladesh now for 34 years and have met many people, but one I will never forget. Koheli was a young tribal girl born with a defective heart. She could never run and play with the other kids. She would become breathless and often had chest pain. The two of us got to be great friends.
When she turned 14, the doctors said she had to have an operation to replace her defective heart valves to live. I begged the money for the surgery. We had enough to proceed, but she died three days later from surgery complications.
That was one of the most challenging times of my life. She was gone and what we hoped would save her led to her death. But now she is my special patron saint. I ask her to pray for me so often I know this little saint watches over me.
When we meet Jesus, he will show us his wounds and then ask us to show him ours. If we have loved, we will have injuries. If we have no wounds to show, what will that reveal about us?
Prayer
In your appearances after the resurrection, Lord Jesus, you greeted your disciples with peace and showed them that your body, once dead in the tomb, was alive again. They became witnesses of your death and resurrection and preached your name to the ends of the earth, beginning from Jerusalem. Many centuries later, help us to know your life deep within us that we, too, might witness to you by all we do and say, and carry your good news to all we meet. You live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
In the line of thinkers in the medieval Church, St. Anselm stands as a giant, but he is a saint because his love for others was even greater than his intellect.
He was born in 1033 in what is now northern Italy. As an adolescent, he wanted to enter the monastery, but was too young, so he wandered in his faith for a time. Later, as a well-educated young man, he heard about a famous abbot who was teaching at a monastery in Normandy, and he joined the community there at the age of 27.
Anselm quickly rose into leadership positions in the community at the monastery, and his brother monks grumbled about his promotions because of his youth. But Anselm was patient and gentle, which won over all of them—even an obstinate young monk who was set on living outside of the monastic discipline. Anselm shepherded the young monk with tenderness, and brought him around to greater faithfulness, even nursing him when he fell ill and died.
Anselm was a monumental thinker—he was known as the greatest theologian of his age. Not since Augustine had the Church such a mind at her disposal. He is known as the father of Scholasticism, a critical mode of thought from the medieval age that gave rise to the university system. Anselm wrote about the existence and nature of God, truth, free will, the origins of evil, reason, and Jesus’ Incarnation.
In 1078, Anselm was elected abbot of the monastery, and soon after was named archbishop of Canterbury. In that position he ran into continuous conflicts with several successive kings of England over rights and revenues. They wanted to claim the stream of resources that came from monasteries, and Anselm took his opposition to the pope on several occasions. Anselm unflinchingly fought to better the clergy and hold to Church disciplines.
Anselm was known for his charity towards all, and especially towards the poor. People who met him remarked on his sincerity and compassion. He was the first to take a stand against the slave trade, passing a resolution against the selling of people like cattle.
Anslem died of old age in 1109, and was declared a doctor of the Church, a title given to 37 saints who are known for elucidating the faith by their words or example. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel on campus.
St. Anselm, you who deepened our understanding of God and enacted that knowledge in love, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Anselm is in the public domain. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
