Reflection for April 8, 2010: Thursday in the Octave of Easter.

Abstract

Jesus' regular greeting to disciples in his resurrection appearances is simple: "Peace be with you!" "Shalom be with you!" And so in today's Gospel Jesus greets the "startled and terrified" disciples gathered to hear the account of his appearance in Emmaus in the breaking of the bread.||"Shalom be with you!" There is no greater gift God gives than Shalom. Shalom connotes a wholeness and well being that flows from communion with God. This gift unites the receiver through God with the entire human community and with the entire created universe.|It is important to remember that the Paschal Mystery does not conclude with Jesus' death on Calvary. No, the culmination of the paschal mystery is the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of Shalom given by the Resurrected Jesus. Yes, Jesus' death and resurrection not only pay the price for sins but simultaneously elevate us to sons and daughters of God. We become beloved children of God through this gift of Shalom, the gift of Jesus' presence through his Spirit!|Note also the healing of the crippled man in the first reading. Why are there so many healing miracles in the New Testament? I think the answer is simple: human wholeness depends on faith in Jesus. Jesus regularly heals the blind and the deaf and the diseased and the crippled. Physical infirmities are signs of human need and limitation. Jesus' healing of these human limitations are signs. These signs point to the total transformation of the human condition through faith in Jesus. Human wholeness depends on faith in Jesus!|How desperately our troubled world needs Shalom! This Easter Season let's be especially attentive to the Resurrected Jesus' greeting to us and to our troubled world: "Peace be with you!" "Shalom be with you!"