Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 23, 2025
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.
Even as a kid, the last line of today’s gospel stuck out to me. How could these so-called disciples not recognize Jesus until the breaking of the bread? My seven-year-old mind figured they must not have been very close to him. Now, well into my fifth year of seminary, I’m still not sure I could answer that question much better.
What I’ve come to realize, though, is that Jesus comes to us in many ways—often quietly, often unnoticed. I see him on Sundays in the Basilica and in the chapels across Notre Dame’s campus, but it is easy to forget to look for Jesus in our daily lives. He is always made known in the breaking of the bread, and when that bread is broken and shared at every Mass, we possess the grace to see Christ as they did in Emmaus.
In the breaking of the bread, the veil is lifted. The same hands that blessed and broke bread at the Last Supper—hands pierced on Calvary—now offer us his very self: alive, glorified, present. This is not mere remembrance; it is an encounter. The risen Lord reveals himself not in spectacle but in humility—in something as simple as bread, shared among believers.
And every time we gather for Mass, we are there at Emmaus. Our hearts awaken. Our eyes are opened. Christ is risen—and he is here walking among us. It’s okay if we don’t always recognize him because he is and will be made known to us in the breaking of the bread.
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

St. George is one of the most decorated and venerated saints in the Catholic tradition, yet all we really know of him is that he was a soldier and a martyr. He was a Roman soldier in Palestine who stood up to the emperor where Christian persecutions began around the year 300. For this, he was beheaded.
His story seems to have been told among English armies visiting the Holy Land during the Crusades. Convinced of the power of his intercession, soldiers returned to England with a devotion to this saint. From there, many stories were told to fill the curiosity of the faithful, including a tale of George slaying a dragon.
The story tells of a dragon terrorizing a kingdom. The people of the area kept the dragon satiated with gifts of sheep, but when livestock ran out, human sacrifice was required. Victims were chosen by lot, and one day the king’s own daughter was chosen. George rode into the city on his noble steed while this was taking place, and slayed the dragon with one blow. He then gave a stirring speech that converted thousands to be baptized. He was given a great reward, but gave it all to the poor and rode off into the sunset.
Fairytale or not, devotion to George was real, and he is patron of many cities, as well as England and Canada. His feast day used to be one of the biggest holidays of the year in Europe, rivaling Christmas, and a holy day of obligation for Catholics in England until 1778. He is also patron of soldiers, as well as those who work with sheep and horses. His courage and honor also make him patron of the Boy Scouts.
The relics of the martyr, St. George, rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. The image above is a depiction of St. George slaying the dragon by the Renaissance master, Raphael.
St. George, brave soldier and martyr, patron saint of England and of Boy Scouts—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. George is in the public domain. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.