Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself! Touch Me and see.

Jesus spoke these words when He appeared to the apostles on Sunday evening. They were shocked by the Saviour’s appearance and thought they were seeing a spirit, rather than the real Christ with His glorified body. Jesus urged them to look closely at His hands and feet and to touch Him to convince themselves that it was truly Him. He even asked them to give Him something to eat as further proof that He was in His resurrected body. They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, which He ate in front of them. The bones of the fish remained as a testament to His real presence.

Let us remember that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He appears in a special way to certain favoured individuals, through whom He reminds believers of certain truths. He also often calls people to repentance and faith in Him in various ways. However, Jesus has also promised us His spiritual presence, saying: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” Through faith, we can be spiritually united with Christ, who abides in us spiritually through baptism and God’s grace – provided we are not in a state of mortal sin. Jesus promises that He will be with us all days and that He will abide in us. This presence of Christ is spiritual yet real. When we cross the threshold of time and enter the dimension of eternity, we will see Jesus face to face. And more than that, we will experience this spiritual union – that we are in Him and He is in us – already in the light of God’s glory. For now, however, we are on earth, engaged in a spiritual struggle to remain faithful to Jesus. We strive to keep His commandments and preserve the faith, which is especially important at the moment when He calls us from our earthly pilgrimage into eternity.

Download: Reflection on Lk 24:39