Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
In our Gospel for this Sunday we get the very last sentence of the Road to Emmaus story. I always enjoy this story of Cleopas and the other disciple with him who are just fed up with all that is happening surrounding the end of the life of Jesus and claims of the empty tomb, so they just leave to go to Emmaus.
On the way there they meet a stranger who walks with them on the way. He speaks to them about the promised Messiah and all that the Scriptures revealed regarding Him. The hearts of the two disciples are moved and hope begins to stir. They beg the stranger to stay with them.
It is time for the evening meal, so they sit down to break bread together. As the stranger takes the bread, prays, and breaks it, the disciples realize that this is very familiar. Wait, this is Jesus who blessed bread and broke it with them. It is the Lord! Their eyes are opened and as soon as they recognize Jesus, He vanishes from their sight.
Cold hearts are again filled with the fire of faith! The ecstatic disciples make all haste to take the long journey back to Jerusalem. There they are reunited with other disciples proclaiming that it is true. The Lord has been raised! Again Jesus appears in their midst. In spite of their acclamations that Jesus is risen, fear enters their hearts. Is He alive? Is He risen? Is He a ghost? What does this mean?
Jesus reassures them that He is real. He is alive. He shows them His wounds. He asks for something to eat in order to prove to them that He lives. All the hearts of those who believe are filled with joy! Still, the questions and uncertainties remain. What is next?
As disciples of Jesus, we too encounter Him many times in our daily life without recognizing who He is. We pray that our eyes may be open to the presence of Jesus, who always walks with us. We ask for hearts filled with joy that Jesus is truly risen from the dead. And we beg that, like the disciples in Emmaus, we may come to know Him in the breaking of the bread as we share His Body and Blood in Holy Communion.