When I first read Homer’s Odyssey as a teenager, one scene captured my imagination: Odysseus finally returning home after 20 years, yet no one recognized him. Distinguished as a beggar, he speaks with his wife, his son and even his enemies. He is fully present, yet hidden. Only at the right moment does he reveal himself, and everyone realizes he has been with them all along. I was struck by the mystery that he could be so close to his loved ones, and yet they simply could not identify him.

Mini reflection: There is a reason Christ showed his wounds as he said the words, “Peace be with you.” It was not just a means of identifying himself — it was a catechism lesson. Here, he was saying. Here is the peace you will not find anywhere else.

Within Thy Wounds

The Easter season begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the celebration of the feast of Pentecost. It is a season of Alleluias and constant reminders that Jesus, who was mocked, ridiculed, and crucified has risen from the dead. On the Wednesday of the Octave of Easter (April 8), and again on the Third Sunday of Easter (April 19) we hear the gospel reading that recounts Jesus’ post-resurrection walk with two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). After the disciples recognize Jesus when he broke bread with them, they asked each other “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” This “hearts were burning” experience of the disciples is one which, according to the US Bishops in their 1999 document on adult faith formation entitled Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, tells us that the disciples “saw for an instant the full scope of the Father's loving plan and its high point in Christ's death and resurrection.

The month of March and the first few weeks of April is a time of mixture: crocuses and snowflakes, new buds and dry leaves. Crosswinds blow both cold and warm. In early spring, we are heartened by the coming of spring and the disheartening trek to H&R Block to submit taxes! March and early April is that in- between time when we are not quite sure. We are caught in the middle of seasons…do I put away the snow shovels or bring out the deck furniture?