Easter Afternoon 2023

 

Let’s go for a walk!

Don’t worry, you can stay in your pew—it’s probably raining outside anyway.

But let’s join the mysterious stranger and two bedraggled disciples along the dusty road to Emmaus. We know that one of them was called Cleopas; let’s imagine you’re the other.

It shouldn’t be all that difficult. Haven’t we all had days—or weeks, or months, or even years—when we felt that life had let us down—that God had let us down?

The two disciples were, like us, people of faith. They’d opened their heart to the message of Jesus; they’d put their hope in him for their future and for the future of their people.

Now, nothing but confusion and uncertainty. Stories they found hard to believe.

What first happened on the road was simple and can happen to us without drama. A master teacher showed those two how the Scriptures applied to their experience. He let them see that the prophecies of ancient times, which they knew well from childhood, were true and able to explain the unexplainable.

It’s something modern folk need—which is why the Alpha course in Christianity goes out of its way to talk about how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament.

Jesus showed the confused pair the way that the Jewish Bible made sense of the events they’d experienced. Knowing the texts wasn’t enough for them: they needed to understand and apply them concretely.

Like the two disciples, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to instruct us in the truths of Scripture. Just listening to the readings at Mass—just listening to the homily, for that matter—is not enough. Although Jesus was the teacher, the Spirit was at work on the road to Emmaus—that’s why the disciples hearts started to burn  within them.

And that’s not all. After what must have been hours of instruction, Cleopas and his companion still didn’t know their teacher. They knew the Bible a lot better but did not know Jesus.

What happened to change that? It’s described perfectly: they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread—in a Eucharistic encounter.

There’s our own Sunday experience in a nutshell. We break open the Word of God so that we might understand the Scriptures. Then we break the bread, celebrating Christ’s sacrificial meal.

Strengthened by Word and Sacrament, today and every Sunday we recognize Jesus and join the disciples of every age in proclaiming “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!”

Here in this parish, and throughout the world in the Church, we celebrate Easter every Sunday. Like the disciples on their way to Emmaus, we sit at table with the Lord. So, I’ll offer just one key thought that applies to all of us, regular Mass-goers or not: At Sunday Mass we can find answers to our confusion, remedies to our problems, and consolation for our hearts.

Our eyes will be opened, and our hearts will burn, if we will stay on the road with Jesus.