Third Sunday of Easter

Readings of the Day

Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way ...

The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is a reprise and summary of the journey we take each year during Holy Week culminating in the Easter Triduum. The joyful enthusiasm of crowds greeting Jesus on Passion Sunday gives way a few days later on Holy Thursday, when Jesus invites those closest to him to share a final meal together. In the intimacy of that last supper, he offers a hint of the tragic events about to unfold, and a way of interpreting his passion and death as an act of love: “This is my body given up for you, my blood poured out for you.”  The brutality and humiliation of his death left his followers stunned, numb, devastated.

The two disciples in today’s story had left Jerusalem after Easter Sunday. Still confused and dejected, they were trying to sort out what had just happened. It didn’t make sense: “…we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem us…”  This experience of dashed hopes and crushed spirits is one that we in Catholic Charities agencies see quite often in the lives of those who come to us seeking assistance, or who are entrusted to our ongoing care.  Many have suffered setbacks or tragedies that have injured their bodies and bruised their souls, often thrusting them into despair that things could ever be better again.

Yet as these two walked back home wondering “What now?” they were joined by a stranger who “drew near and walked with them.” That is what the Risen Christ first did for them, just joining them on their journey to listen to them, ask them to tell their story, and share in their pain.  And that is what we are called to do today as the Body of Christ as we continue his saving and healing work – we walk with people who need to know that they are not alone, that someone is there who cares enough to listen and be present.

But Jesus did not leave them in their pain and confusion – he spoke words of encouragement and gave them hope by offering a new way of looking at what appeared so bleak. That is our next step as well: we offer people who cannot see past their problems an opportunity to see their God-given goodness and dignity. Like the two on the road, they may wonder if we will “stay with them” until they are safely home, if we care enough to “hang in there” with them. We follow the example of Jesus when we treat them not as just another case or client, but as a person, a fellow child of God and brother or sister to us.  All of that personal encounter and accompaniment – which Pope Francis believes is the heart of the Gospel call for how we should related to one another – sets the table for what happens at the conclusion of the story.

Jesus shares a meal with them, using the Passover ritual that he imbued with new meaning through his cross and resurrection. He takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them – reflecting in this act his total gift of his body and blood, his very life and self, for them and indeed for all of us as well. That is what the Risen Christ does again and again – he gives others something to eat that nourishes their bodies and lifts their spirits, enabling them to “be not afraid.” And that is the high calling and mission that he has sent us forth into the world to continue – to be bread taken, blessed, broken and given for the life of others. Saying yes to the vocation to be Christ’s Body offered up for others is in the truest sense a labor of love. Christ promised that “wherever two or three are gathered, there am I in their midst,” and so we trust that those we serve will “recognize the Lord Jesus in the breaking of the bread” – that we have become Eucharist – Bread for the Life of the World.

Ed Lis is Director of Catholic Mission Integration for Catholic Human Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.  

Sign up to receive the Daily Lent Reflection emails and other CCUSA messages here.