Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 24, 2019
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 in a crowded world, it’s easy to feel alone. I know I do. We look for God, but can’t seem to find him anywhere. Perhaps the two disciples headed to Emmaus on Easter morning felt the same. They were distressed by “all the things that had occurred” in Jerusalem over the last few days—namely the death of Jesus the Nazarene, whom they had hoped would redeem Israel. Their messiah, their prophet, their future king was gone.
Jesus himself, unrecognized, joined them on their walk, and over the course of seven miles, he explained the Old Testament prophecies and “interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures.” Does this not sound like the Liturgy of the Word, like the first half of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, when Sacred Scripture is unpacked and we find Christ?
When they arrived in Emmaus that evening, Jesus was convinced by his disciples to join them at table. In a manner clearly announcing the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” The disciples’ eyes were opened to Jesus at that holy moment. He was with them, indeed, and he had been with them the whole time.
These two great gifts of Christ to his Church—Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist—are given to us every day, everywhere in the world, at every Mass. Christ has agreed to “stay with us” in this way, continually opening our eyes to him. We are never alone.
After receiving him in the Eucharist, I sit with him in quiet intimacy. We are one, my Lord and me. Once again, he the requests: Stay with me, Vicky, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over. He is with me; I am consoled.
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
As a lawyer, St. Fidelis gave special attention to the plight of the oppressed—in fact, he became known as The Poor Man’s Lawyer.
He was born as Mark Rey in Germany in 1577. The more he practiced law, however, the more disenchanted and disgusted he became with the lengths to which his colleagues would go in order to win a case. He decided to leave his life as a lawyer and dedicate his life to God in a religious community.
His brother was a Capuchin Franciscan, so he joined that order, took the name Fidelis, and was ordained a priest. He was zealous in his practice and proclamation of the faith, and once declared, “Woe to me if I should prove myself but a half-hearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned captain!”
He was sent to minister in several different regions of Germany, where he reformed whole cities with his preaching. He also cared for the sick, especially during a severe outbreak of disease. Because of his effectiveness, he was chosen to head a party of Capuchins to go to Switzerland to convert people back to the Catholic faith there.
His preaching was enhanced by his own witness and the hours he would spend in prayer, and many people were inspired by his example. Opponents threatened his life, and tried to rouse people against him by claiming that he was a spy.
One night, his adversaries even shot at him when he was in the pulpit, and tried to storm the church. Friends offered to shelter him, but he declared that his life was in God’s hands, and while he was walking on the road home, he was attacked by a mob of armed men. He asked God to forgive the attackers as they killed him.
The relics of St. Fidelis rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
St. Fidelis, the “Poor Man’s Lawyer” who became a priest and was martyred for preaching the faith—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen is in the public domain. Modified from the original. Last accessed February 21, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
