Here are these men and women, at least 20 of them, hiding in a locked room. First some of the women claim to have seen angels telling them that Jesus had risen from the dead. Then Simon claims to have seen him (although that's not recorded in Luke). After that, two of their group return and tell them that Jesus had walked with them to Emmaus. All pretty amazing things.

But now, as they are all trying to figure out what's going on, this man appears out of nowhere and says, "Peace be with you." They were terrified. What kind of trickery was this? But those hands and those feet don't lie. This is the man they called Lord.

It seems that it was only after Jesus did something decidedly human, eat some fish, did they realize that this was not an apparition, but this was a dead man that wasn't dead any more.

I wonder what I'd do if Jesus were to all of a sudden appear in my office. I already told you what I'd probably do. I'd be terrified, confused, awestruck.

I'm real comfortable saying that Jesus is present in my life. I can say easily that Jesus lives inside my heart. I, along with you, proclaim that Jesus is Risen at least every Sunday. But do I believe it? If Jesus is alive, should we be amazed when we actually see him?

Probably not. I think that after 2,000 years and the intellectual revolutions of the past 400 years, we've come to think of Jesus as being alive in a spiritual sense. I think we'd all be pretty amazed if we saw Jesus in a physical, touchable body. A body that was human enough to chew and digest broiled fish.

A little aside. You know that in most prayers we end by saying "in the name of Jesus who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit, one God now and forever." In England they say it a little differently, "In the name of Jesus who is alive and reigns with you ".

In our version, it seems that we 're saying that Jesus lives in the same way as the Father and the Spirit. Spiritual, ethereal, other worldly. The English seems to say that Jesus is alive in a different way than the Father and the Spirit. He reigns with the other 2 persons of the trinity, but he is alive in a unique way.

I like the English version. It seems to allow us to experience God the Son in humanity itself. I don't mean to imply that there is a guy walking around who is the complete incarnation of God. I don't think he's limited to one human body. He is alive, though.

There's a prayer that I use as a private devotion after Mass, "blessed, praised, hallowed and adored be Jesus Christ on his throne in Glory, in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar and in the hearts of his faithful people."

Teresa of Calcutta often said that she helped the poorest of the poor, not because they were like Christ, but because they are Christ.

I guess the little prayer I say isn't quite complete. I think I need to add, "in the faces of those in need."

Jesus is alive. If I didn't believe this, then I would be the worst kind of charlatan. My faith is predicated on the belief that this once dead prophet came back from the dead and still is alive in a strange and miraculous way.

If Jesus didn't come back to life, then his appearing to the apostles would be lies, delusions, or the appearance of a ghost, some benign meta-physical force that is not mentioned in any of the biblical records. He's be some sort of Casper floating around doing good.

That's not enough for me. I need a savior that cries, laughs, bumps into things, sings off key, plays in the mud, hurts when he hits his thumb with a hammer, who occasionally does hit his thumb with a hammer. God the Father may know about these things, but other than the appearances recorded in Genesis, He's never had flesh and bones. The Holy Spirit is exactly that, a spirit who passes through walls.

Only Jesus Christ truly manifests humanity. He smiled and laughed. He had friends die. He was disappointed by people he thought he could trust. There's no mistaking him for a concept. He knew what it meant to be the victim of sin and so when he tells me that my sins are forgiven, there's no question that he knows what he's talking about. Not that God as Father and Spirit don't, but I can relate to bones .

But, that doesn't really answer the question of how he is alive. Like I said, he's not roaming around the streets of Jerusalem right now. At least, I don't think so. But he is, really. If we believe that the Church is the resurrected Body of Christ, then we are all in a way the human body of Christ. Some of us reflect that manifestation more clearly than others. And, some reject it completely.

He is alive. When someone calls from out of the blue and invites you to lunch just when you were feeling your loneliest, that's Christ. When a Nobel laureate wipes the face of a dying man and cleans his bed pan, that's Christ. When a woman in rags offers you a smile, that's Christ. When you stand in a soup kitchen and see a 13 year old mother hold out her plate for a ham sandwich, that's Christ.

When I knelt over the bodies of 4 teenagers killed by an anonymous careless driver, that's Christ.

Christ in our joy. Christ in our pain. Christ in our birth. Christ in our death.

The disciples couldn't believe, right away, that this man in front of them was 1) Jesus, and 2) alive. In each case, Jesus "opened their minds" or "opened their eyes" to the meaning of his life, death and resurrection. Then, they knew.

When we look in the eyes of each other and can see the Gospel, we see Christ. When we can see the Kingdom of God, the lame walk, the blind see, the poor having good news preached to them, then we are seeing Christ in our midst.

It can be a terrifying thing to look into the eyes of Christ. For, when we gaze into his eyes, we see the totality of his life. When we look into the eyes of Christ we see creation. We see the salvation history of Israel. We see the manger and the temple. We see the Garden and the cross. We see the empty tomb. We see the faces of all who have been victims of injustice. We see the faces of all those who are lost, waiting for you and I to be Christ to them. We see our selves, our souls and bodies. We see our lapses and our moments of Grace. We see, above all else, love. Love that caused us first to be. Love that bled upon the tree.

Yes, looking into the eyes of Christ can be a terrifying thing. Yet, it is only by looking into his eyes and allowing him to open our eyes and our minds that we will truly know that he lives.

He is alive and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. AMEN