Third Sunday of Easter
Luke 24:35-48
The Risen Lord had a word of encouragement for all future believers when he said, ‘Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believe.’ Faith is a person’s response to God, who reveals himself through Jesus Christ.
Our faith can and is strengthened by prayer. Mass and the sacraments. Faith, like a muscle, grows as it is exercised. If we fail to exercise our faith it grows weak and dies. We can in some sense ‘lose the faith ‘. It is our faith that gives meaning and direction to our lives. Jesus, by his many bodily appearances, was anxious to convince the disciples that he was truly risen. He went to the trouble of inviting them to touch his risen body and explore the wounds of his crucifixion. In this touch the pain of the cross and the triumph of the Resurrection were united. Without the cross there could have been no resurrection. (Martin Tierney)