Third Sunday of Easter

Mass Readings

• First Reading Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
• Responsorial Psalm Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9
• Second Reading 1 John 2:1-5a
• Gospel Luke 24:35-48

Open the Mass Readings on USCCB.org →

Step Into the Story

Acts 3 moves to the Temple’s Beautiful Gate, possibly the great Nicanor Gate of Corinthian bronze, which Josephus says outshone gates plated with silver and gold. There Peter heals a man lame from birth, then tells the crowd in Solomon’s Portico that they “put to death the author of life,” adding, with remarkable charity, that they acted out of ignorance. The First Letter of John calls Jesus our “Advocate,” parakletos, the one who stands beside you in court.

1. 14 A.D.Tiberius becomes emperor
2. 26 A.D.Pilate becomes prefect
3. c. 30 A.D.Jesus is crucified
4. c. 30 A.D.Bread broken at Emmaus
5. This week’s scene: c. 30 A.D.Jesus stands among them

Run with the two disciples from Emmaus on Easter night; 30 A.D. is the likeliest year. They have covered about seven miles back to Jerusalem in the dark, uphill most of the way, because they cannot keep what they saw to themselves. Feel the cold night air in your lungs.

Burst into the room with them. The Eleven are there with others, and the lamps are lit. Before the two can catch their breath, the others tell them: the Lord has risen and appeared to Simon. Then the two pour out their story of the road, and how they knew Him in the breaking of the bread. Smell the lamp oil and the remains of a meal of fish. Stand among them, still breathing hard, while they are still talking.

Encounter the Lord

Picture the room in Jerusalem late at night. Two breathless disciples have just walked seven miles back from Emmaus. Everyone is talking at once. Then Jesus is there. They are terrified. He asks for something to eat and eats it in front of them, slowly.

Jesus is patient with our slowness to believe. He does not only prove He is alive; He teaches. He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures, and they see that the Cross was not a defeat but the center of God’s plan. He does the same for you each Sunday: first He opens the Scriptures, then He gives Himself in the breaking of bread. And John reminds you that even when you sin, you have an Advocate with the Father.

This week, read Luke 24 slowly from beginning to end. Ask the risen Lord to open your mind to understand what you read.

Know Your Faith

Christ Opens the Scriptures

Christianity is the religion of the Word of God, “not a written and mute word, but incarnate and living.” Christ must open our minds to understand the Scriptures (CCC 108). Christ Jesus is the center and heart of all Scripture (CCC 112).

Word and Table

The Mass follows the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with His disciples: walking with them He explained the Scriptures, and at table He took bread, blessed and broke it (CCC 1347). The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist form one single act of worship (CCC 1346).

Witnesses to the Nations

The faith of the first community is based on the witness of concrete men who knew the risen Christ (CCC 642). The risen body of Jesus is real, not a ghost, yet it has the new properties of a glorious body (CCC 645).

Our Advocate with the Father

Christ did not live His life for Himself but for us. He is still “our advocate with the Father,” who always lives to make intercession for us (CCC 519, 2634).