.

Note the physicality of today’s gospel reading.

Physical features (hearts, hands, feet, mouth, eyes) abound and emotional realities are strong (peace, alarm, fright, agitation, doubt).

“They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.”

The stumbling point for many is that in Jesus God took a human body and walked and talked and ate and drank, felt human emotions and cried human tears and suffered human pain all the way to physical death. But in the resurrection the journey of human life to death becomes a pilgrimage of hope through death to the life for which we are created.

Recent years have seen a growth in virtual gatherings using Zoom, Teams and other online offerings. But it’s not the same. We know that what we are doing in front of a computer screen is not the physical connection that we need with others.

Christianity is physical. It is experienced by and lived in people with physical bodies.

Our bodies are a great gift – but when they tire, ache and no longer keep pace with our active and creative minds we descend into a battle with our physical bodies rather than listen to their wisdom.

Our bodies are speaking to us just as much when we name physical actions (especially sexual) as sins misreading our actions as problems to be overcome instead of as communications from our deepest self, signs that indicate and reveal our desire for the divine.

Liturgy is especially physical, we gather, we process, we stand and sit and kneel and speak. Our bodies find a home in the liturgy. While live-streamed prayers and liturgies can be helpful when we are unable to physically and personally participate in the liturgy of the church, the sacraments require physical presence.

In the days following the resurrection of Jesus his disciples came to believe because they encountered by Jesus not in a way that was wishful-thinking or imagined belief, but physical, and in forms they could not explain, a presence that was much more than physical.

Let’s turn to Jesus today begging him to reveal himself to us personally, intimately and physically, that we might experience him physically, personally and intimately.

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FFF IN THE CAFE… Send your name and the name of a cafe or bar to john@fff.org.nz Scribble FFF on a table napkin, take a seat and wait.

DROP IN FOR A CHAT:

Thursday 13 April 2023
10.30am at Zest Cafe Greeton 187 Chadwick Rd, Tauranga. (Directions) Frances

Monday 17 April 2023 
11.00am at The Cafe at Harrisons, 23 Peka Peka Rd. Waikanae Beach. Catherine.

Sunday 23 April 2023 
11.00am at The Bakehouse 74 Main Street, Fairlie.  (Directions) Fr. Tien Cao.

Thursday 27 April 2023
10.30am at Zest Cafe Greeton 187 Chadwick Rd, Tauranga. (Directions) Frances

Monday 4 May 2023 (and every Monday)
10.00am at Moko (Kudos) in the Bush Inn Centre Christchurch (Directions) Trish

Tuesday 12 May 2023 (and second Tuesday of every month)
10.30am at Zenders 44 Hopkins Road, Newstead, Hamilton (Directions). Christina