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In today's passage from the
gospel of Luke we hear again the powerful story of the disciples on the
road to Emmaus. It was late in the afternoon on Easter Sunday. Two
of the disciples were on their way to the town of Emmaus, discussing all
the events of the passion and death of Jesus, when a stranger joined
with them. The disciples did not recognize that this stranger was the
Lord. Luke states that it was a lively exchange that Jesus interrupted
when he asked them, "What are you discussing?" They shared with him all
of the events of Holy Week, including the stories of the empty tomb
proclaimed by the women of the group. These disciples must have been
quite a sight for the Lord. They were agitated and frantic about what to
do next, after all, they were hoping he was the one to redeem Israel!
Have you ever noticed how quickly we blame God when our plans don't work
out the way we think they should?
"Oh, how foolish you are!" Jesus said to them. Then he interpreted for
them all of the Scripture passages that spoke of his mission. To
understand the events in our lives Christians should turn to the
Scriptures first. We still need Jesus to interpret the Scriptures for us
today. He does that for us through the Holy Spirit, his gift to his
Church.
When the disciples reached their destination they urged the Lord to stay
with them. When he blessed, broke, and shared the bread with them, their
eyes were opened and they recognized him. It was their Eucharistic
fellowship that enabled these two disciples to become witnesses of the
Resurrection. Once again we are reminded that our faith in the Risen
Lord thrives only in community. All of us, young and old, clergy and
laypersons, need our place in the community of the church.
None of us subsists in the
faith alone. All of us need to be fed at the table of the Word and the
Eucharist. |
