“Looking Ahead” is the weekly reflection on theSunday readings, by Father Perry.
By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor
Not recognizing someone you haven’t seen for years is a common experience. It usually includes embarrassment, confusion of the mind, frustration, then finally, surprise and delight as we “recognize,” that is, “know again” the person who for some reason was unrecognizable.
Lack of recognition because of changes of the body, especially with aging, is one thing. Lack of recognizing the inner-person is much more difficult, and this requires intimacy and sharing for recognition to occur.
For these last two weeks in our liturgy we have had stories of “non-recognition” turned to “recognition.”
Each time, Jesus takes the disciples through the steps —
“Look at my hands and my feet.”
“Touch me and see.”
He showed them recognizable features, he invited them to touch and experience him as real, and he proved he wasn’t just a vision or a ghost. He ate food which ended up in his stomach and “not on the floor.”
But this was more than a scene of simple recognition or “catching up” with old friends. Jesus was acutely aware of and concerned with what was happening “inside” the disciples’ minds and hearts.
He began again —
“Peace be with you.”
Then, observing their startled shock, terror, and confusion (they thought they were seeing a ghost), he asked them directly and simply —
“Why are you troubled, and why do questions arise in your hearts?”
Then as he had done on other occasions, he explained how the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms had to be fulfilled in him; this included his death and resurrection.
Jesus is equally concerned with our recognition. Recognizing stories of Jesus and his words is the easy part. Recognizing in our hearts his presence, his call, his love, his forgiveness, his invitations to grow, and his promptings of our spirit are the “many recognitions” he seeks for us to experience every day, all the time.
