Cycle A - Year I:

23 April 2023: Third Sunday of Easter 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Acts 2:14, 22-33

Second Reading:   1 Peter 1:17-21

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 24:13-35 

A walk to Emmaus.....

During the Easter Season we hear from the Gospel of St. Luke a remarkable story of the two disciples travelling to Emmaus.

After the brutal death of Jesus His disciples were at a loss as what to do next with their lives.  They believed Christ as their Master to liberate them from their enemies. But a crucified redeemer, just like what happened to Jesus, ruined their expectation. So that two of the disciples, one of them is Cleopas but the other was not named, decided to leave Jerusalem and began their journey with broken hearts on the road to Emmaus.

On their way the risen Lord appears and walks with the two disciples, engaging them in a conversation. They talked about the recent event that had occurred in Jerusalem about Jesus of Nazareth. But because the two disciples were in grief and brokenhearted they failed to recognize that in their midst is the risen Christ Himself.

Why was it difficult for these disciples to recognize the risen Lord?  Well, they saw the cross as defeat and could not comprehend the empty tomb. So Jesus chided them for their slowness of heart to believe what the Scriptures had said concerning the Messiah: "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!" (Lk 24:25)    

So also, at times in our own lives we are like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.... feeling lost, alone, sad, confused, or even angered by our own personal "Calvary" experience.  We are disappointed and have our own failures and failed expectations about our faith.  Often we are tempted to wander our way because of lack of faith or lack of understanding of what God is doing, or not doing in our lives.

In the Gospel event, the risen Christ was finally recognized by the two disciples "at the breaking of the bread". The gestures of Christ at supper with the two disciples mirror those of the Last Supper and have been perpetuated in those of the Mass: "He took the bread and said the blessing; then He broke it and handed it to them." And their eyes were open to behold the risen Lord is with them. But He vanished from their sight. The two went back to Jerusalem to share with the other disciples this wonderful experience with the risen Christ.

In our own "walk to Emmaus" do we want to find the Lord, to know Him, to discover the inexhaustible riches of life in communion with our risen Lord?

To answer these questions Jesus Himself teaches us how: Come to Him in the Eucharist. Because our primary encounter with Christ in the Eucharist takes place through the sacrifice of the Mass, which makes Christ's unique sacrifice offered on the cross at Calvary present for us in the here-and-now of our lives.    

The risen Lord continues to be with us and walks with us every day in the Blessed Sacrament. In every Mass, in every Tabernacle, He draws near to us and walks by our side. In Holy Communion, He continues to share His life with us. He is truly present, reaching out to us, speaking to our hearts, behind the thin veil of faith. If only we, like those two disciples, are honest and courageous enough to open our hearts to Him and invite Him into the secret places of our souls, we will see Him anew, and His love will burn within us.

Trivia: According to biblical experts Emmaus is a village that has never been identified with a specific geographical location in today's Israel.   

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!