From time to time, I will watch one of the many “ghost hunter” shows for a laugh. It is a lot like watching adults playing the kids’ game, “Red Light, Green Light, hope to see a ghost tonight.” Stumbling around in the dark with infrared cameras, and all sorts of electronic gadgets, they seek to “document” that ghosts exist. The shows all boil down to someone saying to the empty darkness around them, “If there is someone here give me a sign.”
Today we hear Luke’s version of what happened on Easter Sunday. The two disciples having encountered the Risen Lord on their way to Emmaus, return to the apostles hiding out in the upper room and tell them that Jesus is indeed risen! In dramatic fashion, Jesus suddenly appears in their midst, the apostles reacting like our television ghost hunters fearing they have encountered the ghost of Jesus. They do not have to ask for a “sign”, Jesus immediately bestows to them his peace. He then tells them to touch him and feel his flesh and bones. He eats some fish. What ghost can do this, he asks them.
Do we find ourselves, from time to time, asking for a “sign” from Jesus that he is indeed risen? Do we not wish that we had been in that upper room, touching the real flesh and bones of the Risen Lord, and seeing him eat with us? Every time we gather here on Sunday, we encounter the living flesh and bone of Jesus in the Body of Christ around us. The people we greet, those with whom we exchange a sign of peace are the real Body, flesh and blood of Jesus in our world. We see Jesus eat, as we watch those around us receive Holy Communion. We hear his voice as they sing and respond in prayer. In the eyes of those around us, we see Jesus look at us.
We don’t need infrared cameras, or special electronic gadgets, or digital recorders to document that Jesus is Risen and among us. The Risen Lord is alive and well and present in all those gathered around us every Sunday at Mass.
