We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead

This week’s first reading from Acts 10:41 offers one of the most striking and human affirmations of the resurrection—‘…but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.’ It is an extraordinary claim—one that invites us to reflect more deeply on what the resurrection truly means.

Peter is clear: the Jesus who rose is the same Jesus who was crucified. Not a spirit. Not a vision. Not a memory. A real, physical presence—who could eat, drink, and share a meal. Just as in Luke 24, where the disciples watch in awe as the Risen Jesus eats broiled fish, this act grounds the resurrection in tangible reality. The Gospel is not about myths or metaphors—it is about flesh and blood transformed, about life conquering death.

And yet, there’s even more here. Meals in Luke’s writings are never just about food—they’re about fellowship, covenant, and mission. Every table Jesus sat at was a place of encounter, and this table with his witnesses after the resurrection is no different. It signals that the mission continues. The Risen Christ not only reveals himself—he eats bread and wine with them.

I reflect on the first time we invited a parish priest to have dinner at our home. Our children were still young and seeing the priest who celebrated Mass, at the altar on weekends, eating at our table, was exciting and almost surreal.

Here was someone who had stepped down from the altar and into our everyday life. The conversation was simple, the food familiar, but something sacred unfolded in that ordinary setting. It made us aware that faith is not confined to the church building—it is meant to live and breathe in our homes, around our tables, in the warmth of shared meals and stories.

Today Jesus still eats at our table, albeit in invisible form, yet definitely present — in the breaking of bread, in the laughter shared, in the quiet moments of grace between family and friends. Talk with Him. Tell Him of our challenges.

We talk with Him in the Holy Spirit, if we enter into the silence and stillness to be aware of His presence. Maranatha.