"He interpreted for them what referred to him"
The Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/050414.cfm
Acts
2: 14, 22-33
1
Peter 1: 17-21
Luke
24: 13-35
In
good conversation we learn much about how another person thinks and feels about
various issues and we can be passionate about many things. However, in our
fervent feelings we can be blind to the obvious as we become stuck in our own
opinions or discouraged by disappointment.
We have hopes and dreams that may seem possible at one point but in the end we may be forced to change our views. Sometimes, “plan B” is better than our first choice. We might even become discouraged and despondent when things don’t work out – “It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.” We’ve all been there.
This
Sunday we have a beautiful treat in another resurrection story from the Gospel
of Luke. As all the scriptural appearances
of Jesus are impressive, I personally find this one, the “road to Emmaus,” my
absolute favorite. The disciples walk away from Jerusalem on that first day of
the week after their hopes were dashed and they have just experienced a great
loss. But now they are confused about reports from “some women of our group”
whose news of the empty tomb both astounds them and puzzles them more. “We were
hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.”
We
aren’t sure why the disciples were going to Emmaus. There is no place in Israel that is credible
enough to say, “This was Emmaus.” The point is more that they walked away from
Jerusalem which had seen the very events they pondered. Were they escaping? Going home in sadness or
just on a Sunday afternoon stroll taking some time to reassess what their next
move should be or reflecting on the words of the women who reported the empty
tomb. It’s clear their hopes were dashed
about Jesus.
Jesus,
now risen, has joined them on this journey.
But, they fail to recognize him. Why? Maybe their discouragement is so
great that they simply can’t see the obvious.
If you’ve ever tried to get someone’s attention when they’re
concentrating on something else it might be like that. Or maybe Jesus’ was so
transformed after the resurrection that his appearance was somehow different,
yet the same. Yet, don’t we too often go through times of belief and unbelief
or at least wonder at times if God is deaf to our prayers or blind to our
problems?
Still,
the point is that Jesus walks with them in their confusion and discouragement
then begins to uncover the Scriptures for them.
How everything they wondered about was self-evident if they would only
look with the eyes of faith. That faith in the risen Christ is the source of
all truth and if we would just believe that, we could see his presence in the
Word. That he is indeed the gift of the Father and Savior of Israel and all who
would profess faith in him.
The
allusion to the early liturgical assemblies in which the Christians gathered to
reflect on the Scriptures should be clear.
This Jesus they followed was foretold by the Law and the Prophets and
here he is! We too gather in our Liturgy of the Word, the first part of our
Mass, and we too should see and hear with the eyes and ears of faith. We too can say, he is here! Where else can
you see him?
At
one point, hospitality takes on its best character and the two disciples, now
more than curious to hear more from this wise and comforting companion, invite
him to stay for the evening meal. Jesus becomes the host of the meal and as he
did with the loaves and fish, as he did at the Last Supper with his Apostles,
and as he does now – he breaks bread with them.
Then suddenly, “With that their eyes were opened and they recognized
him.”
Their
encounter with the risen Christ was not a hallucination or a dream. It was real and so is ours when we too break
bread – and Christ is present to us under the signs of bread and wine. Jesus is the host of every Mass and looks
upon us with the same love and concern he did with those disciples in Emmaus.
Then,
it all made great sense. They had walked
away from the very person they were searching for so they immediately set back
to Jerusalem to share the joy of finding the risen Christ – to share the good
news with their brothers: “The Lord has truly been raised!” Like our newly
baptized and initiated and like all of us we must always turn back to Christ
and his Church.
Yet,
how many have walked away from the Church and how do we feel about them? Do we blame them? Do we judge them? Do we not care – out of sight
so out of mind? Do we cry for them or just wring our hands? How about inviting them?
In
his rich Apostolic Exhortation the Joy of
the Gospel, Pope Francis opens:
“I
invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal
encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter
them; . . . No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or
her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord.’” (# 3).
We are all invited. The disciples’ hearts were
open because Jesus gently walked with them and patiently accepted without judgment
where they were then led them to see more. Finally, they saw him and ran back
to Jerusalem – to the Church.
This
is evangelization. To accept the
invitation offered to every one of us for a renewed encounter with Jesus
Christ. In Word and Sacrament we see
him. In the face of one another we are
invited to see him – especially in the poor and those who are discouraged.
Try
this. Look into the face of an infant in
arms and I dare you to not see the face of God! How blind can we be at times? God saves us from discouragement and our own
self-absorption.
“The Church which ‘goes
forth’ is a community of missionary disciples
Who take the first
step, . . .an evangelizing community
knows that the Lord
has taken the initiative, he has loved us first
and therefore we
can move forward, boldly take the initiative,
go out to others,
seek those who have fallen away,
stand at the
crossroads and welcome the outcast.”
Pope Francis: Joy of the Gospel
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