The Various Apparitions of Jesus After His Resurrection

“To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the kingdom of God” (Acts 1, 3).

First Prelude: Behold Jesus in the midst of His Apostles assisting them in their various needs.

Second Prelude: O my Jesus, teach me how to prepare my heart that I may frequently experience Thy bountiful visitations.

FIRST POINT

REPEATED APPARITIONS OF OUR DIVINE LORD

Jesus remained on earth for forty days after His resurrection. What a time of grace for the Apostles, to whom He often appeared, partly to console and instruct them, partly to help them in their perplexities, to encourage and fortify them by marks of divine affection and favor! Thus Jesus willed to confirm their faith in His resurrection, and render their separation from Him more bearable. Likewise, our Blessed Lord manifests Himself to devout souls by His grace and divine consolations. This is especially the case in Holy Communion, when He reveals Himself unmistakably as the living Bread that came down from heaven, to nourish our souls! With a sweet violence Jesus attracts devout souls who think only of Him, rejoice in Him alone, and love Him ardently. To merit such a grace, we must pray for it, guard our senses and strive to be always recollected.

We must beg our dear Saviour to prepare our soul for His divine visitations, which ordinarily yield abundant and wholesome fruits. As the Apostles were inflamed with renewed fervor and zeal, strengthened in faith and confidence by the presence of their Divine Master, so we, too, will feel the effects of the Divine Presence, impelling as powerfully to the most heroic sacrifices in promoting the salvation of souls and our own sanctification. Do I not frequently hinder the operations of divine grace by my repeated faults and especially by negligence in the custody of the senses?

SECOND POINT

JESUS OFTEN APPEARED TO HIS DISCIPLES UNEXPECTEDLY

Jesus appeared to the disciples casting their nets on Lake Genesareth; to Mary Magdalen, weeping at the grave; to the pious women, returning to Jerusalem; but, in nearly every instance, He disappeared at the very moment when they began to taste the sweet delights of His visible presence. Likewise our Lord chooses to do even now. He sometimes visits, with His graces, souls consecrated to Him, when they least expect it, and remains at a distance when they impatiently desire His presence. At times we experience the presence of God very vividly in hours of prayer and solitude; then, again, while performing the most unseemly tasks of our vocation. Almighty God would impress upon us that neither rank nor position, nor office, nor yet occupations hinder communion with Him. We may hasten the moment of His visitations by great purity of heart and an ardent desire for His grace. Let us not be too eager, however, to enjoy the consolations of Jesus Christ. We cannot attain to perfect rest and satiety in this world. “Seek true peace not on earth, but in heaven,” we read in the Imitation. True, even now we should love to possess the liberty and bliss of the children of God, but the hour has not yet come. There is still the time of combat, of labor, and of trials. Let us be content if Jesus visits us only at intervals and for a brief moment, as He did His disciples. But let us be on our guard not to close the doors on our Bridegroom by voluntary unfaithfulness. He might knock while we are buried in distractions and we would fail to hear His gentle pleading for admittance.

Do I hold myself in readiness, by a lively faith, humble confidence, and tender love, to be vouchsafed the bountiful visitations of our Blessed Lord?

Affections: O my Jesus, how amiable art Thou toward all who are truly devoted to Thee! Thou visitest them with Thy grace, Thy consolations, Thy light, and Thy strength, as best pleaseth Thee and according to their needs! How often have I, too, experienced the delights of Thy blissful presence! But oftener through my own fault I have kept Thee, the Bridegroom of my soul, aloof from me; I have hindered Thy bountiful visitations by dissipation and manifold infidelities in Thy service. O Lord, grant that it shall be so no longer. Help me to cleanse my heart of all stains, and tear it away from every affection for creatures, that Thou mayest always find it receptive for Thy grace, and prepared for Thy merciful visitations.

Resolution: I will carefully guard my heart, in order to avoid the slightest act of unfaithfulness.

Spiritual Bouquet: “I seek a pure heart; there will I dwell.”

Prayer: O Jesus, living in Mary . . .