Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Monday in the Octave of Easter, April 21, 2025

Delivered by Samuel Ivan Gunarta from the Parish of Mary the Lady of All Nations in the Diocese of Bogor, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 2: 14.22-32; Rs psalm 16: 1-2a.5.7-8.9-10.11; Matthew 28: 8-15COME TO MEET THE RISEN JESUS Our meditation today is entitled: Come to Meet theRisen Jesus. Jesus' apostles and disciples were the eyewitnesses to the deathand resurrection of Jesus Christ. There were heavenly messengers who revealedabout the risen Jesus and all the more so, when Jesus Himself appeared to them.The concrete feature of the risen Jesus is of course different from when He wasalive and together with them. The risen Lord was already in spirit or accordingto the Acts  of the Apostles, it is"the risen Jesus". Their testimony is obviously strong and to be thetruth faith. This is shown by their obedience to the request of the risen Jesusthat they should come to Galilee and meet him. The meeting must take placewithin the scope of space and time, and therefore, the truth can be accountedfor. Meetings or encounters that are only in memory, imagination or through thehelp of means and intermediaries, will definitely open up opportunities fordoubt.  So according to the account in Matthew's Gospel today,the women who met the risen Jesus asked that the apostles come immediately andmeet Jesus in person. It was the direct encounter with Jesus that became a newexperience of faith and shaped a new life for the Lord’s apostles anddisciples. It became the basis for the Apostle Peter, the first disciple of thetwelve, to give his first sermon on the risen Jesus. He and his companions hadto testify about the truth of the risen Lord. The sermon essentially reads like this: Jesus Christ,whom God has appointed to fulfill all the promises of the past, is the realMessiah. He was executed on unjust and untrue charges. He had died and beenburied, but now God has raised him up. All that pertains to His death andresurrection, Peter and the other apostles are witnesses. To make this sermonis not just empty words, the proof of the event and the recorded experience ofthe eyewitnesses are factors that determine its truthfulness.  Every follower of Christ is endowed with the basicneed to come and meet the risen Jesus. He comes to the presence of Jesus everymoment of this life. This is the same as a husband who has often not come toattend the Eucharist. Even though he is healthy and prays privately at hishouse. Because the wife was impatient with her husband's behavior, shedeliberately asked for a Holy Communion service to her husband at home. Theparish priest then came to the house. So there was a real encounter with theLord Jesus for the husband. From that moment on, he was always aware and readyto come and meet God in person through the daily and weekly Eucharistcelebration. We must do the same.Let us pray. In the name of the Father... O Almighty God,fill us with the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Fatherwho art in heaven... In the name of the Father ...