Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 12, 2023
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 the bread.
Reflection
In today’s gospel passage, two disciples discover that Jesus was walking with them on the road to Emmaus after they see him breaking the bread at dinner. What stands out to me in this passage is the immediate action the two disciples take upon realizing it was Jesus.
Despite having already walked seven miles to Emmaus, they turn right back around to make the journey back to Jerusalem. The disciples were transformed by their burning hearts, knowing Jesus’ appearance was too great to keep to themselves. I can imagine the disciples’ journey back to Jerusalem, walking purposefully, excitedly discussing what they had seen, and anticipating sharing the news.
This image of the two disciples’ journey reminds me of the third grade class I taught a few years ago when they received their First Communion. Following their big day, my students were so eager to share how it felt to receive Communion, how grateful they were to receive Jesus, and how much they loved Jesus.
Like the disciples, their burning hearts turned into action by wanting to share about Jesus with others. Witnessing their excitement and hearing their conversations about Jesus inspired my faith in remembering the joy of sharing God’s love with one another.
Jesus calls us into a deeper relationship with him in the Eucharist. How do we allow the Eucharist to transform our hearts and inform how we live our daily lives? May we have a renewed spirit to draw nearer to Jesus in the Eucharist this Easter season, and may we keep our hearts open to receiving Jesus’ love, allowing this love to spring us into action.
Prayer
Almighty God, your Son’s rising from the dead astounded his followers and turned their sadness into joy, their hopelessness into buoyant courage. Like the disciples who encountered him on the road to Emmaus, may we recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread, know him as the fulfillment of our deepest longings, and proclaim him alive to all we meet. We ask this through Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Saint Teresa of Los Andes was one of the Young Witnesses selected by the 2018 Synod of Bishops to serve as a patron for their meeting on young people in the Church, which took place in Rome in October 2018. Like another of the great saints with whom she shares a name, Thérèse of Lisieux, Teresa entered a Carmelite convent at a very young age, when she was just eighteen.
Teresa was born Juana Fernandez Solar in Santiago, Chile on July 13, 1900. She was the fourth of six children and was known for her choleric and passionate temperament. One anecdote about this fiery young saint-in-the making tells the story of a time when Juana was pestering her younger sister Rebecca. Annoyed with Juana's antics, Rebecca slapped her in the face. Juana grabbed her to retaliate the slap, but mid-gesture repented, and kissed her sister on the cheek. Rebecca, understandably, was confused and accused Juana of kissing her with the "kiss of Judas."
Throughout her adolescence, Juana continued to slowly convert her passionate outbursts into a single-minded aspiration for union with God. She encountered a kindred soul and spiritual mentor in Thérèse, whose spiritual autobiography, Story of a Soul, she read as a child. Juana was profoundly moved by the sensitive, self-aware Thérèse who was so keenly aware of her own self-absorption and pride, yet who transformed this natural disposition into total dedication to God.
Inspired by Thérèse, Juana sought to become a Carmelite. When she was seventeen, she sent a letter to the prioress of the Discalced Carmelite convent in Los Andes, expressing her desire to join the order. Juana was frustrated by the lack of response and the nagging unfulfillment of her one desire. Juana spoke to her mother, who advised her to speak to her father. Juana wrote her father a letter about her desire to join Carmel while she was away at boarding school. He never answered. Intimidated, but determined, Juana approached her father in March of 1919 when she was home from school, and he granted her permission. On May 7, 1919, Juana entered the Carmelite novitiate and took the name Teresa of Jesus. While still in her first year of religious life, Teresa contracted typhus and her health steadily declined.
As she approached death, the Carmelites allowed her to profess religious vows early, even though she had not completed her novitiate year. On April 7, 1920, Teresa took her first vows, and five days later, on April 12, Teresa died.
Devotion to Teresa of Los Andes spread quickly due to the publication of letters that she wrote to a wide number of people during her year in Carmel, offering spiritual advice and insight. Teresa is an example of the purity of heart cited in the Beatitudes—her life was fueled by love and love alone. Over the course of her short nineteen years, Teresa learned to channel the deep passion inherent in her personality towards the pursuit of God. Her letters attest to this wild love, and firm-minded devotion. When she was beatified on April 3, 1987, Teresa became Chile's first citizen to be beatified, and when she was canonized in 1993 by Pope John Paul II, she became Chile's first canonized saint. She is a patron saint of Santiago, Chile, where she was born and a patron of young people.
Santa Teresa de Los Andes, powerful witness to the great fruit of quiet faith—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Teresa of the Andes is in the public domain. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
