Third Sunday of Easter . . . "From Sadness to Joy"
-
Third Sunday of Easter - April 23rd, 2023 (Click Here for Readings)
Our Easter Gospel of Luke begins with sadness and sorrow, but ends with joy and excitement when the two disciples on the road to Emmaus are awakened to the real reason for Jesus’ death and resurrection.
From their brief dialog with Jesus in this poignant Gospel, if we were able to capture all that was said between the lines on that two-hour seven-mile walk, it would be a treasure to behold.
The story portrays a misunderstanding by the two disciples of the meaning of the events leading up to Jesus’ death. Though they knew the scriptures foretold by Moses and the prophets about Jesus’ passion and destiny, they were slow to really believe them. Their expectations of Jesus becoming their new worldly king eclipsed the truth of the scriptures, and resulted in their grave short-term disappointment.
During the two-hour seven-mile walk to Emmaus, Jesus gradually begins to make himself known to the disciples by reproving them for their slowness to believe what they already should have known from the scriptures. Because it was important to Jesus that his followers knew the scriptures, he retold them what they should have already known before he revealed himself to them at the end of their walk.
If the two disciples recognized Jesus from the moment they met, they may not have poured out their hearts as openly as they did. By venting their true feelings along the road to Emmaus, they were able to get much of the puzzlement off their chests.
After Jesus accepted their invitation to remain with them, he re-enacted his actions at the Last Supper in the breaking of bread before he vanished. And though he was no longer with them, his breaking of the bread and opening of the scriptures set their hearts burning with such urgency that they had to hurry back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven apostles of their amazing experience.
Today we are gifted with the privilege to participate in this mystery of Emmaus at Mass. Through the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Jesus now comes to us hidden in the species of ordinary bread. And through the Liturgy of the Word, he also comes to us in spoken words through the voices of faithful lectors and homilists.
By hearing the scriptures read from the ambo and altar, we can prepare our hearts to receive the Eucharist with deeper faith and reverence. And upon our departing from Mass, have the same anxiety to share our burning hearts with others just as the two disciples did when they rushed back to the eleven apostles.
Imagine Jesus giving us hours of his time to walk along the "Roads to Emmaus" of our lives and brighten our shattered dreams as he did with the two disciples.
That unnamed disciple on the road with Cleopas can be us, when we invite our Lord to walk along.
For more reflections on the Sunday readings, Go Here
