(Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter Year A)
The above-mentioned theme introduces us
into the three readings of today, with
burning hearts, because the two disciples upon listening to the words of
Jesus, the unknown stranger, had the experience of their hearts burning. The
words of Jesus were warming their hearts. Secondly, as suggestive of the second
part of our theme, it was really an
Immanuel experience for the disciples experienced Jesus truly as the Immanuel,
the Risen Christ became their companion in their journey. Indeed, it is as if
after the Resurrection of Jesus, he is bent on establishing the fact that he is
truly the Immanuel. The God with, for and in his people; in the three readings he manifested himself as the
God with and for his people, but incredibly towards the end of the Gospel
passage he manifested himself as the God in his people, for as soon as the
disciples ate the broken bread, Jesus vanished out of their sight, because he now lives in them, and that is
what happens when we receive Him in the holy Eucharist. The mystery of Jesus’ Resurrection is the nucleus of the fulfillment
of all that God promised in the Scriptures. The Event of Christ’s
Resurrection is at the center of today’s readings. In the three readings we see
a convinced proclamation of the realism and thus the credibility of the
Resurrection, for what was a mere figure
in the Old covenant became in Jesus a reality. The three readings proclaim incessantly the realism of the Resurrection
of Jesus, as basically the work of God.
In fact, as St. Augustine would have it,
“The New Testament is found hidden in the Old Testament”, as such he indicated
the process of continuity in the Revelation of God, in the course of Salvation
history. Little wonder, Jesus explained the Scriptures to the two disciples of
Emmaus, what Moses (The Pentateuch) and the Prophets said about His Event. What could be the texts that Jesus was alluding
to when he was speaking to these disciples? Even though St. Luke does not
mention any here, but reading through the Old Testament we can make references
to Deut. 32:29, where God is
revealed as the One “who gives death and life”; Amos 9:2, where it is said that “God has power even over Sheol”,
and in Psalm 16:10: “for you will
not abandon me to Sheol, you cannot allow your faithful servant to see the
abyss” etc. In as much as we talk about continuity in Divine Revelation, we
cannot but emphasize that the New
Testament surpasses the Old Testament, mainly the passage from the presentation
of Resurrection as a mere figure, to the
reality itself of Jesus’ Resurrection in the New Testament. The mystery of the Resurrection was hidden
in the heart of the Father, and he left a spark of it in the Old Testament in
order to reawaken hope in his people. In the New Testament the Father reveals
His Heart not by mere words, but through facts and actions, by raising Jesus
from the dead. An insuperable mystery that surpasses the strength of reason
and the revelation of the Old Testament, as it continues to be “scandal”, for
the Jews and for unbelievers. But for us, who believe, it is the power of God
and the wisdom of God (cf. 1Cor. 2:1-5).
In fact, as St. Thomas Aquinas puts it melodiously in the Benediction Song, Tantum
Ergo we sing: “Types and shadows have their ending for the newer rite
is here. Faith our outward sense befriending makes the inward vision clear” and truly when Jesus renewed their faith
and revitalized their hope the inward vision of the disciples of Emmaus (that was
burning in their heart) became clear.
In the Gospel (Lk. 24:13-35) St. Luke presents one of the most interesting
narratives in the New Testament and the most beautiful of all the appearances
stories. It is indeed, a Gospel in a
Gospel. Jesus got attracted to their discussion, do our discussions attract
Jesus? Jesus
in this encounter sums up the whole history of salvation and shows us three
major ways of recognizing him: through the broken
brothers, the broken word and the
broken bread (the liturgy of the
word and the liturgy of the Eucharist, as it takes place in every Mass), two elements that are intrinsic to his
person, identity and mission. Truly,
this story warms the heart; it makes our heart burn also. The narrative
revolves around two disciples, popularly identified as the disciples of Emmaus,
who were on a retrogressive journey to
their Land. On their way, they were talking and discussing, but shrouded in
doubt and fear, with some dints of unbelief. “Jesus drew near and went with
them” (v.15). Now in their midst, he
walked with them, He accompanied them (A
God who is a companion of man), he reminded them of His words and taught
them the Scriptures. Yet, his appearance did not take their doubt and fear
away, rather something was gradually happening deep within them, which they
will confess at the end.
If
we paid attention we see that St. Luke talks about two disciples, but he
mentioned the name of one of them Cleopas, and the other is unknown to us as
far as the Lucan Gospel is concerned. There is a traditional belief that it
could probably be a man Cleopas and his wife. But in my reflection I would like to consider the idea of not
mentioning the second name as symbolic, for the unknown disciple is a
representation of all mankind, you and I. While Cleopas represents the
specific disciples, the other disciple is you and I. For the Event of Jesus is
to reach the whole of the earth, to cover the whole world, and to touch all
mankind. It has to reach geographically
everywhere. It has to cover socially all human affairs and conditions. And
above all, it has to touch spiritually the deepest depth of man, his heart,
mind and conscience. Drawing the issue further, I would like to remember
another interpretative key to this narrative given by Bishop R. Barron in his
homily with the caption: “Emmaus and
Genesis”, he considered the journey of the two disciples as a journey away
from the Garden, from salvation, like Adam and Eve they turned to walk in a
wrong direction. No matter what we do God comes to walk with us, like in Genesis
he comes seeking us out from our hideout.
The Lucan episode of the appearance of the
Risen Lord to the two disciples of Emmaus serves in no small way as a help for
Christians of all times, to be on the move towards the discovery and
rediscovery of the presence of the Risen Lord. This is one of the most suggestive passages of the Gospel of St. Luke.
The two disciples on their way to Emmaus were downcast and disappointed, they were already conjugating their hope in
the past, “We thought he would be the one to set Israel free” (Lk. 24:21). Like them, sometimes we
are so heavy burdened by fear and unbelief that we begin to conjugate our hope in the past. “I thought, I was
thinking, Had it been, But” etc. Certainly, they were aware that some of the
women and the apostles talked about a vision of an Angel who affirmed that He
is alive, they were also aware that some of the apostles ran to the tomb and
they saw the tomb empty. This certainly must have been a trying moment for the
apostles, but instead of scattering, they gathered together in Jerusalem, yet
after hearing all this, these two disciples set out on a journey of separation
from the community of believers. Practically they did not believe in the
Resurrection of Christ, disappointed as they were, they wanted to distance
themselves from Jerusalem, from the other disciples. The journey away from
Jerusalem to Emmaus, could be compared to a journey from the rising sun to the
setting of the sun, from light to darkness, from hope to desperation. But incredibly, the mystery of Jesus’
Resurrection is a “moving mystery”, as they try to run away from it, the
mystery goes to meet them. He walks alongside them, he flanked them, but
they could not recognize him.
Along the journey Jesus rebuked those two
disciples for their disorientation and lack of understanding. They were walking with the main Actor of
their discussion and story without recognizing Him. But they needed to open
their hearts and see with the eyes of faith. However, we see a gradual
knowledge of Jesus by the two disciples in that journey. They distanced
themselves from the rest of the disciples. Here
there is a movement towards Emmaus, distancing themselves from the Holy City,
but they will embark on a converse journey, going back to Jerusalem, this
second movement is a journey of conversion, leaving their old life and
reality and going back to the new life
that the Risen Christ offers in the midst of the brothers. As we can see,
Jesus called the two disciples to a change of destination, from their houses
and the plan of going back may be to their former life, to go and be united
with the other disciples in Jerusalem. So that they will be part of the movement
for his Mission. Today Jesus is still
meeting and accompanying us on our different existential roads, and he
continues to call us to be part of the movement for his Mission. Today, some of us are heading towards wrong
destinations but he is calling us back, we pray to have the Immanuel experience so as to rediscover
his presence and turn towards the right destination.
In this passage we see in the Risen Lord a
God who goes to encounter man in his doubt, unbelief and even desperation. A God who does not impose himself, rather
he proposes to man. Even, in the journey he respected the pace of each one.
Little wonder, he respected their doubts, their unbelief and their fear, even
though he reproached them and reminded them of His words concerning his Event. He re-explained to them the Scriptures
and when they approached their destination, they invited this unknown stranger
to stay with them. The Lord accepted
their invitation and manifested himself conspicuously in the breaking of Bread.
To crown it all, at table “he took the bread and blessed and broke it.” Certainly
with a gesture well known to them and so typical of him; lo and behold, all
fears, all doubts, all unbelief, all desperation disappeared. Now no more
doubt! It is He! They now understood why their hearts were burning. Jesus is recognized at the breaking of the
bread, not only with his explanation of the Scriptures and in the brokenness of
the brothers. Therefore, we may well affirm that the sacrament illumines the
word of God. In this encounter, the
two disciples had a personal experience of the Liturgy of the Word and the
Liturgy of the Eucharist. After the breaking of the Bread, and when Jesus
disappeared from their midst without hesitation they began their journey back
to Jerusalem, to go and share with the apostles what has happened, and there
they found all attesting that “truly the Lord is risen and he has appeared to
Simon” (Lk. 24:34). They went back
to Jerusalem in order to rediscover the value of community, being together and
sharing the Immanuel experience.
Indeed, the highest spiritual experience is to feel and have the assurance of
being accompanied by God, and that is the Immanuel
experience. When Christ walks alongside with us, even when we are erring,
he will redirect our steps to the Father. In the Immanuel experience the presence of Jesus revitalizes, vivifies,
redirects our steps and sets us on the move!
By means of this life changing event on
the road to Emmaus, St. Luke intends to communicate to us as he did to the early
Christians that Jesus the Risen Lord is alive, and he is in our midst even
today. In synthesis as emanating from this passage Jesus manifested and
continues to manifest himself in four different ways or modalities: ●First, He manifests himself in the
broken brother (s), in his own brokenness as a stranger. Also, Jesus met
them in their brokenness and upon breaking the word and the bread gradually he
mended their brokenness. ●Second, He manifests himself in the broken Word (Sacred Scriptures). Little
wonder, in their brokenness Jesus began to mend their heart with the word of
God, re-explaining to them the Scriptures. The incarnate Word of God was
explaining the written word of God to the disciples of Emmaus. ●Third, He
manifests himself in the broken Bread
and today we encounter Him in the celebration of the Eucharist, “at the
breaking of the Bread”, as did the two disciples of Emmaus. As Jesus broke the
Bread, He broke their fear and despondency, and thus, mended their brokenness.
Their inward vision became clear and they set out to return to Jerusalem. In
the Eucharist Jesus breaks himself for us, he breaks himself to mend our
brokenness, just as he did for the disciples of Emmaus. ●Fourth, Jesus
manifests himself in the community of
brothers and sisters, in the Christian Community that professes her faith
around Peter and with Peter. The Risen Christ is encountered in the community
that works in his name, sanctifying souls through the sacraments and healing
bodies by the power of his name. We remember the miracle at the Beautiful Gate
by Peter: “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” (Acts. 3:6).
In the first reading (Acts 2:14.22-33) we see part of the kerygmatic speech of Peter on
the day of Pentecost. It introduced the
central events of the death and resurrection of Jesus, with a reference to the
earthly ministry of Jesus and ends with the proof of the resurrection. For
Peter the faith in the Risen Christ cannot be closed up in the private, deep
within the individual consciences, rather it has to explode in a joyful and
courageous proclamation. He is a
prototype a true Christian, a splendid example for every disciple of Christ.
A Christian is one who proclaims with a high voice his faith in Jesus Christ
died and raised, he or she proclaims it courageously and publicly.
In the second reading (1Pt.1:17-21) St. Peter affirms rigorously that God raised Jesus
from the dead. And this is the fundamental nucleus of our Kerygma. This is
always the joyful proclamation: The crucified and risen Christ. However, St. Peter invites each and every one of us
to recognize and be conscious of the price that was paid for our Redemption.
A call therefore, to value his Presence, the Immanuel experience! In that bid,
he affirmed that in the Christ Event “we were ransomed by the blood of the
lamb”, thereby interpreting the death of Christ in terms of the Passover. Again,
blood alludes to the event of the cross, where Jesus surrendered himself
totally to the Father for our liberation.
Above all, in today’s Gospel passage St.
Luke intends to give us a consoling message, his intent is to help us to
rediscover the presence of the Risen Lord, to be conscious that he walks with
us, He is our companion in our earthly
and spiritual journey, especially
those moments we are disoriented, confused and at the verge of giving up.
He is close to us with his Words (The Scriptures) and the Sacrament of His Body
and Blood. Invariably this narrative of St. Luke is replete with a message of
hope for us, the present disciples of Jesus, and that is the fact that Jesus is alive, he has risen and he is present in
the world. Towards the end of the passage when the disciples approached
their destination and Jesus did as if to continue, they invoked him saying: “Stay
with us Lord, because it is evening.” They needed his presence. This invocation
is at the heart of the Immanuel
experience. Their caring heart and gesture occasioned the breaking of the
Bread. If they had not invited him, they would not have recognized Him. May we
all join our voices together to those of the disciples in saying: “Stay with us
Lord”, in our life, in our families, and in all that we do! Let us thank the
Lord Jesus for making Himself available to us, for being so ready to accompany
us in our daily life and equally desirous of giving himself to us in the
Eucharist. May
the Risen Christ help us not to remain slaves to our interpretations and world
views. May He open our hearts to welcome his words and his presence in our
life. Happy Sunday Friends!
(Fr.
Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)
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