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That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
This gospel focuses on communion and how it will strengthen our faith and understanding. The apostles, who knew Jesus better than anyone, were unable to see him clearly. They were distressed and distracted by his death and that Israel had not been redeemed in the way that they had hoped.
They had heard of his resurrection but were confused and unsure if it was actually true since they had not experienced it themselves. I have the same issues of being busy, distracted, and sometimes inattentive to my faith.
I just returned from a mission to Santísimo Sacramento Parish in Piura, Peru, pastored by our classmate of 1980, Fr. Joe Uhen. I traveled there with some roommates from Sorin, and we spent a week experiencing how a faith community truly lives the word of God.
Fr. Joe pastors a community of over 50,000 believers who live a simple, humble, and, what I would consider, an impoverished life in the Peruvian desert. They might be poor in everyday comforts (water/plumbing, electricity, dirt floors, cooking on an open fire), but their faith and the Mass are central to their lives. A packed healing Mass we attended had over 1,200 people, where I could feel the presence of God through their faith.
Like the apostles in the gospel and the faithful in Peru, I can better know Jesus by attending Mass and receiving communion. The key is the last line of the gospel: “He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.” My favorite part of the Mass is when the priest holds the host high after consecration and states, “the mystery of our faith.” Communion and allowing ourselves to be still and listen will allow all of us to better see Jesus and be more Christ-like in daily living.
Father, your Son consented to stay with his disciples and to make himself known to them in the breaking of the bread. Even now, we believe that he stands at the door of our hearts and knocks to be let in, but many times, either we don’t hear him or we don’t recognize the one we find there. Free our hearts to accept your Son, however he comes to us, and make us burn with love for your Word and the Eucharist. Amen.
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