How wonderful is your name: Reflection for Thursday, April 24, 2025

Both the first reading and the gospel are stories with incredible events. A healed man, and a resurrected Jesus. How wonderful is your name, O Lord. Readings for Today.

How wonderful is your name

Incredible. How often do we use this word? And how often is it that we use it without really consider the weight of the word? Often we use the word to describe something that is, in fact, credible. But difficult.

You should have heard what my boss said to me today. Incredible. Can you believe what happened? Incredible. But often these events are credible. We have no difficulty believing that they could happen, it is often that the word describes for us that something surprising happened.

But the events today, both in the first reading and in the gospel, are in fact, incredible. Hard to believe. And the implication of what is at stake through these events is hard to believe as well. Just what is at stake in the gospel and in the first reading?

In the gospel, the apostles are still coming to terms with the fact that Jesus, whose crucifixion they witnessed, whose death they saw, is now alive. Maybe it is the case that he is a ghost. Maybe they are hallucinating. There has been a lot of stress, after all.

But Jesus does things to demonstrate that in fact, he is the same Jesus they came to love and to follow. He is still fully human. He eats fish. And they realize that he is indeed truly risen! Incredible!

By the time the events of the gospel unfold, Peter and John are doing amazing things. In the power of Jesus name, a crippled man is able to walk. Yesterday we saw this. So excited was he that not only was he walking around, he was jumping! Who can blame him?

The purpose of celebrating the octave is not just to recall historical events. While they are important, and wonderful, the octave of Easter, and the entire Easter season are about the implications of this resurrection for each one of us. In fact, every aspect of our lives and of our faith are tied to this event.

For Jesus comes to each one of us just as he came to the apostles. The risen Jesus wants to prove to us that he is indeed risen! He wants us to believe and to know that the new life of Jesus is possible for us to receive too.

And, Jesus wants to act through us just as he acted through Peter and John. While we might not ever find ourselves healing a cripple, like Peter and John we can find ourselves being vehicles of God’s grace. The Holy Spirit can work through us as well.

Of course a question arises. Do we really believe Jesus can give us new life? How often did Jesus ask, “Do you believe I can do this?” or make the statement after a miracle that “Your faith has saved you”? I think during this Easter Octave Jesus continues to ask this question of us.

Do we believe that Jesus can give you new life? Do you believe the power of the resurrection can be yours in faith? Do you believe the Holy Spirit can work through you, so that you can witness to others the power of Jesus in your name? Do you believe that God can do incredible and powerful things through you?

For it can be the case that the resurrection of Jesus has become so familiar to us that we take it for granted. or we relegate it to the past as an event that does not impact us today. But this misses the point. While the historical fact of Jesus’ resurrection occurred in the past, the impact of this event is outside of time. This incredible event is as powerful today as ever.

So maybe today in prayer you can ask Jesus to help you to fully appreciate his resurrection and what it means in your life. Maybe you can ask Jesus to help you to be even more aware of the ways he wants to work through you. Maybe, just maybe, because of the power of the resurrection, the depth of his love, and his actions in the world, you too can do incredible things in his name.

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