Thursday 13 April 2023

Today is Easter Thursday, the 13th of April.

The community of Taizé sing Frieden, Frieden: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.

(Lyrics currently unavailable)

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 24:36-48

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.'

Jesus appeared to the disciples, saying, Peace be with you.
Where do you most need Jesus’ presence and peace in your life today?

When the disciples first saw Jesus, they thought that they were seeing a ghost.

Listen to some of the feeling words used in the reading which describe the disciples at that moment… startled… terrified… frightened… doubting…disbelieving…

Perhaps there is one of these words that you can relate to today?

Can you name the situation you are in that brings about this feeling?

As you listen to the reading again, imagine the hands and feet of Jesus, the realisation that he is not dead but is alive.

Can you invite Jesus to come into the room with you, and hear him say to you, Peace be with you?

Talk with the Lord now about what his risen presence means to you today.


Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.