The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
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.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
We too can find ourselves startled, afraid, almost in denial of the truth in front of our eyes when that truth is so big, so all encompassing that we fear our world and ourselves might be swallowed up by it.
But the truth does not move or change or evolve… only our understanding or ability to consume and process changes.
What do I mean?
Do you work in a fast paced work world or busy family life during the week? Trying to keep things going, the kids fed, the babies changed, house clean, chores done? For those who spend most hours outside of the home, do you experience a job that is all consuming of our time and energy most of the week? We think and breathe and revolve around work?
In both cases we may find that when we arrive Sunday morning and are sitting in the pew…we have to shift our attitude, our perspective, maybe we have to slow down the million things in our head and try and relate to the moment? The Mass itself? The Word and the Body and Blood of Christ?
It can be challenging. We may even compartmentalize our world so that everything before and after mass is a different world altogether for us.
Its a difficult way to live. Our trust and our hope may be centered around work or our own efforts to supply the answers in our world. We have established dominion over the results and demand results from ourselves and others. We are in control and know where and what to do at all times.
And then Sunday morning comes and Jesus appears for us and listens to you and me and our thoughts and worries and questions and our trouble relating to what is going on. We begin to question what we are doing there perhaps. And Christ comes and says it is me, don’t you recognize me? I am the same Lord of your childhood when you first turned to me and found comfort. I am the same Lord of your struggles when you built your life with your family and found support. I am always here.
And we do touch him. We receive his body and blood into our bodies to reunite with him once again.
For those who are disconnected throughout the week it can be unsettling at times for we had to really shift our mind and hearts to prepare for that moment. We might not really even want to be there.
Jesus Christ appears to us and says it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact that is why we were given the advocate in the Holy Spirit to be with us everyday.
This Sunday, reach out to Jesus Christ and touch his hands and feet, feel his wounds. Receive his body and blood again. But when the Deacon sings the last Alleluia and when you have walked to your car with your family, take him with you. Do not grow away and shift back to a reality without God at its core.
Our calling is more than Mass attendance, more than rote prayers and readings. Scripture is Gods word for us but if we do not take the time to listen to his voice in our hearts, to feel his presence within, we have missed out. Being a Christian is more than Mass, more than scholarship in scripture or theology. It is not about what we can discuss and recollect. It is about what we feel, desire and do. For those things shape our world and understanding of God and his Word to us personally.
Do we examine our feelings and ask where is God in them?
Do we observe desires and ask which ones are from God and which from elsewhere?
Are our actions representative of one who holds God inside all week long.
God should never be someone whose presence startles us. We should not have questions haunting us when we see him. Mass should not be a boxed in experience we endure or shift into, but the pinnacle, the highlight of our week where we are strengthened and renewed to take him back with us to our homes and families and work.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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