Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

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In this Sunday’s Gospel from Luke when we hear Jesus say to his disciples “Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves”, we are perhaps reminded of John’s Gospel of the ‘doubting’ Thomas. 

Wherever we find ourselves in our journey of faith, the invitation to a lively and fleshy faith is the same. 

We are invited to a faith that is built upon the skin and bones of loving charity, of encounter with the Lord in prayer and in the poor, while keeping our feet firmly on the ground of the historical moment we are blessed to share in. 

In Orvieto, Italy, there is a recently restored tabernacle made in the 17th century at the workshop of Ippolito Scalza. The tabernacle is remarkable for two reasons. One is that painted on the door is the gloriously risen Christ, holding his cross, and with a sun emblazoned above his head. Second, the keyhole to open the door is wonderfully placed at the side of Christ. 

Through this artistic impression we learn how the risen Lord feeds us and that we are to break through the walls of our resistance to reach to him, touching his wounded side. 

Perhaps there we will experience something of our woundedness and find that resurrection takes on a different and personal meaning.