Table Fellowship

Homily for Thursday in the Octave of Easter

There are two things that Jesus says in today’s Gospel text that caught my attention. The first is a rather simple question that Jesus asks. “Do you have anything to eat?” The Gospel also calls our attention to the fact that the disciples were startled, terrified, incredulous for joy, and amazed. However, his simple request seems to calm them down so that they can experience him objectively.

While the question may seem a little strange to our ears, if we look at the rest of St. Luke’s Gospel, we will discover that Jesus is found eating on many different occasions and with many different people. He sits down at table with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, Pharisees, and his disciples. St. Luke’s Gospel is sometimes referred to as the Gospel of Table Fellowship for this reason. In addition to eating with people, he also uses references to eating in many of his parables. Indeed, table fellowship is an important part of the gospel that St. Luke presents. When you think about it a little bit, you come to realize that the people that we eat with are usually the important people in our lives. Table fellowship expresses a relationship that might otherwise go unnoticed.

The second thing that he says that caught my attention is this: "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…” Did you notice that Peter and John were preaching repentance in the first reading for today’s liturgy? As we celebrate this great Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord, we dare not lose sight of the fact that the core of the good news that we preach is “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins.” In point of fact, it is for the forgiveness of sins that Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit upon his disciples and upon us. As the formula for absolution makes very clear, the Holy Spirit was poured forth for this very reason.

As we contemplate this very important appearance story, Jesus makes a point of showing the disciples the wounds of the crucifixion. Even though he appears to them in his glorified body, those wounds are still evident as they were received for our redemption from the slavery to sin.

“Have you anything to eat?” Jesus offers us his body and blood in this sacrificial meal, the memorial of his dying and rising.