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Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

When [the man crippled from birth] saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk." Acts 3:3-6

As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at the table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that, their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Luke 24:28-31

Piety

Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord. 

Study

Feet play a pretty important role in the Bible. Over the weeks of Lent and the Triduum, we witnessed Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and nails being pounded through the feet of Jesus. Jesus told the disciples when they were not welcome, to shake the dust from their feet and move on. Sometimes, feet delayed a journey – as in the time Jesus did not leave to see Mary and Martha until several days after their brother Lazarus died. Sometimes, feet moved quickly, as when John ran faster than Peter to find the empty tomb.

Today’s blessed feet belong to the man crippled from birth until he was reborn through the miracle of Peter and John. The other blessed feet belong to the walkers heading to Emmaus when they encounter the Risen Christ.

When our feet take us where we are supposed to be, amazement and astonishment are sure to follow. The man who was healed and the disciples walking to Emmaus have Epiphany moments. Up until the moment of healing and/or revelation, the people in our stories today – like us -- continually suffer at the smallness of our temporal existence. The crippled man just wants gold and silver. The disciples just want to remain in their grief reciting the news of the past – too busy to recognize the God in their midst. However, the miracles that they experience pull them beyond the anchor of the past, into the present moment and onward to eternity. Onward!

The great Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said, “The moment is not properly an atom of time but an atom of eternity. It is the first reflection of eternity in time, its first attempt, as it were, at stopping time.” Time stopped for eternity in the Triduum – the span of days that we commemorate and relive every day at Mass but especially in the Octave of celebrating eight days of Easter.

Action

Time also stops in the stories today as we read them and await our healing, our revelation, our Epiphany. Are you ready for your moment? Will it come tonight? Will it come tomorrow? Where is your Beautiful Gate and your Emmaus?

Where will your feet take you today and tomorrow?

Art by Lisbeth Zwerger for a special edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Did you render unto Ceasar on April 18?  In honor of every reader of Your Daily Tripod who has completed, filed or extended their tax deadline: I offer you this bonus observation:  "The tax code is 10 times longer than the Bible, without the Good News." - David Camp