Over the past week I had the privilege to attend a class in Chicago on spiritual direction. One of the expectations of this class is that you spend considerable amount of time in personal prayer. The scripture I chose to reflect on for the week was the gospel we just heard, that long but beautiful story where two of the disciples are lost, confused, and searching for meaning. Because their experience is so relevant to how we feel sometime, let’s take a few moments to explore its meaning. I would encourage you to imagine that you are there with the two disciples as they leave Jerusalem. The road would be filled with pilgrims entering and leaving the city. It would be later in the afternoon with the sun starting to go down on the horizon.
These two followers of Christ were hurrying out of town on Sunday, the third day after the crucifixion. They were getting out of Dodge, fleeing the madness of what had just happened and trying to stay ahead of possible persecutions. They had seven or eight miles to walk that night. We hear that they are talking about everything that has just happened to them when Jesus approaches and asks what they are discussing. We are told they are downcast when this stranger asks them about their conversation. And this is not surprising. The average lifespan of a person during this time was about 40-45 years. And they had just spent three of them following a carpenter’s son, who claimed he was the Son of God. In their mind, they had lost three important years and they had lost their identity, their mission, their teacher, and Lord in whom they had put all their hope. How beautiful that Our Lord takes an interest in what they are going through and how they are feeling! How amazing that he “draws” near to them to walk with them along their journey. And even though he could just spill the beans and reveal himself to them right there on the road, he doesn’t. He knows they are not yet ready, they need to work through everything that has happened in order to understand. And he walks patiently with them, listening to their experience and filling in the gaps, showing them the reason for it all. He explains that everything happened for a reason, indeed it HAD to happen this way for the salvation of the world.
Even as Jesus explains everything to them, they still do not recognize him. Even though they are being encouraged, in fact, they feel their hearts burning within them, they still cannot believe that this companion is their Risen Lord. And yet, Jesus patiently walks with them to their destination. When they arrive, Jesus gives the impression that he will keep walking, he never invites himself in; he waits to be invited by the disciples and he also waits for our invitation to let him into our lives.They beg him to stay a little longer and he does. How encouraging to us to consider the generosity of Christ, who wants to answer our requests! How humbling that the Risen Lord waits impatiently to serve us, to help us! And how often we fail to invite hime to stay with us.
Once inside, Jesus reveals himself in the breaking of the bread, the same breaking of the bread that we will celebrate in a few moments. Immediately, the disciples get it, and they see who this stranger really is. And in that moment, they realize that the last three years were not wasted at all. That Christ has indeed risen and conquered sin and death and everything that he taught is true. They would have realized in the breaking of the bread that God’s wisdom is infinitely wiser than any human wisdom. They would have known without a doubt that their lord was not just a king but also a patient and loving friend who was willing to walk with them throughout their doubt until their faith and hope were restored. And because any encounter with Jesus is so good, so joyful, so overwhelming, they cannot keep it to themselves, they have to tell others. So they run back to Jerusalem, through the dark roads from which they just came to share the good news with the apostles.
We are often those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Don’t we all go through times when we are downcast, confused, disappointed, frightened, and hurt because we expect one thing from God but get something entirely different? These hardships challenge the way we think of God; they make us feel alone and abandoned. Because of our own expectations of God, we can be blind to the fact that he is walking right alongside us in our time of difficulty. Christ is always walking with us during these moments but we may not recognize him. Like the disciples, we may walk quite a distance down our road of difficulty before we see the presence of Christ. This healing presence of our Lord may be found where we least expect it: in the kind words of a stranger, in the beauty of fine spring day, or the smile of a friend or family member.
Finally, we can see our time here at Mass each week as our own journey to Emmaus. Here we can bring all those things we have on our minds and present them to God. Here we have the Word of God, which is opened up and explained to us as it relates to Christ. But our Lord doesn’t stop at explaining the scriptures to us. In a few minutes he will become present in the breaking of the bread here at the altar. It was this breaking of the bread that opened the eyes of the disciples. If we invite him into our hearts, he will do the same thing for us. He wants our eyes to be opened, so that we can see him working in every situation of our lives.
My prayer for all of us here today is that we approach this Eucharist with the eyes of faith, a faith which sees that Jesus is walking alongside us, each and every step of the way. May we be a people who recognize the presence of Christ here in the breaking of the bread. May we, like the disciples, say to one another as we leave this church: Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
