Today is April 24, Thursday in the Octave of Easter.
We read at today’s Mass, “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'” (Lk 24:38-39).
The risen Lord appears to his disciples, and they are, once again, bewildered. They had seen him die. They had watched as his body — bruised, pierced, and lifeless — was laid in the tomb. They had witnessed the end. So it’s no surprise that when Jesus stands before them alive, they are full of questions, full of fear.
Pope St. John Paul II once reflected that “the word ‘death’ sticks in one’s throat.” Despite all of human history’s efforts to make peace with it, death is always shocking, always overwhelming. This was true for the disciples too. They had seen death, and now they were being asked to believe in something completely new — resurrection.
Jesus understands their fear. He does not chastise them. Instead, he shows them his hands and his feet. He invites them to touch him. He eats in their presence. He lets them see that this is no illusion. It is truly the Lord — not a spirit or symbol, but the crucified and risen Christ, transformed in glory.
The heart of our Easter faith
This is the heart of our Easter faith: Jesus did not rise as an idea or a metaphor. He rose bodily. He truly conquered death. And what the disciples saw — this glorified, resurrected body — is a foretaste of the promise that awaits us. This is why the Gospel matters: because Jesus’ resurrection is not just his triumph. It is the beginning of ours.
Each day of the Easter Octave is a little Easter. Every day, the Church gives us another glimpse of the Resurrection, another encounter with the risen Christ, to root us more deeply in that joy. May the Lord’s peace banish our fear. May his presence cast out our questions. And may we, like the disciples, come to recognize him with wonder.
Let us pray,
O God, who have united the many nations in confessing Your name, grant that those reborn in the font of Baptism may be one in the faith of their hearts and the homage of their deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
