Cycle A - Year II:  

4 May 2014: Third Sunday of Easter 

(Liturgical color: White)

Luke 24:13-35

Walking with the risen Lord!

Life is a journey. And the Good News for those who believe is that God travels with us in our journey of  life. Do we always recognize Him?

We hear this Sunday from St. Luke  the Gospel event of the two disciples of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They were leaving Jerusalem after the brutal death of Jesus because they did not know what to do next. A crucified redeemer tends to ruin expectations.

The risen Lord appears and walks with the disciples, engaging them in a

conversation. They talk about the recent events that had occurred in Jerusalem. The two disciples were so discouraged that they failed to recognize the risen Christ in their midst.

Why was it difficult for the disciples to recognize the risen Lord? Well, they had hoped that Jesus is the Messiah who will redeem Israel. And so his brutal death on the cross naturally scattered his disciples and shattered their hopes and dreams. They saw the cross as defeat and could not comprehend the empty tomb, until the Lord appeared to them and gave them understanding.

Going back to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus chided them for their slowness of heart to believe what the scriptures had said concerning the Messiah. And they did not recognize the risen Christ until He broke bread with them.

In practical life, we also have our own walk towards our own "Emmaus". We also have our own disappointment and our own failures and failed expectations about our faith. So often we are tempted to wander our own way because of lack of faith or lack of understanding of what God is doing, or not doing, in our life. What then should we do?

Faith in the Lord's Resurrection will lead us out of our own road to "Emmaus". Like the two disciples in this Gospel event, let us also invite Jesus, "Stay with us, Lord!"

Pope Francis says that we need to frequently receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist so that we can recognize Him as He travels with us in this journey of life. As we frequent Holy Mass and the Eucharist, may the Lord set our hearts on fire and make us witnesses that indeed our Lord Jesus is truly risen  and is alive in our midst.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!