In our gospel for today we read of another Resurrection encounter with Jesus. This story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus has always been one of my favorite stories of an encounter with the Risen Jesus.
These two disciples, grieving over the death of Jesus, have no idea that he rose from the dead. They seemed to have forgotten the times before Good Friday when the Lord predicted his death and resurrection. Then a beautiful thing happens on the Road to Emmaus: Jesus joins them and enters into conversation with them and starts explaining scripture to them about all that was predicted about His Death and Resurrection. Wanting to hear more, as they approached where they were staying in the village, something wonderful happens: Jesus blesses the bread, breaks it, and gives it to them. It was then that their eyes were opened. Then Jesus vanishes. They were so overjoyed that they had to return to Jerusalem to share the good news with the other disciples, who in turn had their own resurrection story.
This gospel story of the Apostles on the Road to Emmaus reminds me of what we encounter each time we go to Mass. First, we hear scripture readings, then the priest or deacon attempts to explain the meaning of the Scripture, then we move on to the Eucharist, the Breaking of Bread. We, like these men on the Road to Emmaus, encounter Jesus each time we attend Mass, both through Scripture and through the Eucharist. We are called, like these disciples, to go and bring the Good News of the Risen Jesus to all those in our lives.
As we live out our lives as Christians, let us always be open to share with others the Good News that Jesus took our sins to the Cross, died for us and rose glorious on Easter Sunday. Let us always say, like the apostles, “The Lord has truly been raised..." (Luke 24:34)
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteAMEN!!! I LOVE the Gospel account of Our RISEN LORD's appearance to & encounter with the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus!! I have heard that the two disciples might have been a married couple: Clopas/Cleopas & his wife, Mary. This Mary might have been one of the women present at the foot of the Cross & might have been a relative of Our Lady.
How wonderful it must have been to watch & hear Our LORD explain & ILLUMINATE all the Scriptures, from the Torah to the Psalms to the various prophets, etc. & how they all point to what HAD to be fulfilled in Our LORD's coming to earth, His entire life, ministry, Passion, death & Resurrection, making sense out of what in mere human understanding seemed totally senseless, unjust, & unfair, & providing the meaning & purpose of it all. And how wonderful to recognize Him in "the breaking of the bread"--both the familiar action at the Last Supper & possibly also seeing the wounds in His hands.
YES!! I LOVE that the entire encounter is a perfect MODEL for Mass: Scripture & the preaching about the Scriptures in the LITURGY OF THE WORD and "the breaking of the bread" in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Mass is NOT "EITHER/OR" BUT "BOTH/AND" so we are fed by the Word in the beginning portion of Mass & fed by the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST under the appearance of bread in which we recognize Our LORD with the eyes of faith "in the breaking of the bread".
There are 2 beautiful songs in contemporary liturgical music about the Road to Emmaus: EMMAUS (TWO WERE BOUND FOR EMMAUS) by Fr. RICKY MANALO, a Filipino American Paulist priest who was formerly in formation to become a Franciscan priest & served as spiritual assistant of our Secular Franciscan fraternity during his diaconate year at St. Adalbert's when I was beginning my formation as a Secular Franciscan. He switched to the Paulists because they gave him a greater opportunity to use his musical gifts. To me he will always be "FRIAR RICKY". Several of his songs are in our hymnal, JOURNEYSONGS, at St. Margaret's.
The other song that I REALLY LOVE is "IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD" by MICHAEL WARD. I first heard it on a cassette by KATIE FEENEY.
Peace. Love & Joy,
Arlene