The readings for the Sundays after Easter all provide mystagogical catechesis for the entire church, with a special emphasis for the newly baptised. This instruction is meant to help us recognise the presence of the Risen Lord in our midst. The overarching theme for the Second Sunday of Easter is the celebration of this presence in several manifestations.
While we might seek some obvious, tangible manifestation, each reading speaks of the presence of Christ in a way that we would not expect Christ to be present. He is there in the very throes of sickness, in fear and doubt, in the celebration of the liturgy. These presences challenge us to go beneath appearances, beneath the mundane and banal of life, and there discover the risen Lord in personal mystical experience, in the ministry of the believing community, and in the transformative possibilities of the liturgy.
Experiences of the Risen Lord are not reserved for extraordinarily holy people. Any one of us can be invited into a deep personal encounter when we lest expect it, in the most unlikely places, with effects that overwhelm us. In fact, the Risen Christ is always just around the next corner, eager to enter our lives with the transforming power of the resurrection. Being part of a community of believers in prayer can be one of the most profound religious experiences. It not only transforms the present, but it also entrusts us with a vision of what is yet to be, an eschatological hope for a glorious future.
© Dianne Bergant CSA, https://www.liturgyhelp.com/calendar/date/2025Apr27/0/RefDiBer