The Gospel of Luke, chapter 24:32

Luke is a marvelous storyteller. No words wasted, only a concise narrative so well structured that we hardly notice that we’ve been drawn into it, and have become a part of it. Luke always gets excited when the Lord manifests himself. He expects to enliven us by the word of God, invigorate us by the bread of life, and get us dancing and laughing with the happy news of the Lord’s presence. Our Lord is a Risen Lord. He is the Lord of the Dance, the Lord of Life.

Have you ever known a person for years and had suddenly rediscovered more about him or her? It is particularly interesting when you discover something beautiful and noble about somebody you thought you knew. It happens to us all the time. When we learn that the ordinary man next door spends his vacations helping the poor in a Third World country, he seems suddenly different to us. When we are apprised of the fact that the woman we have known for a long time is a novelist writing under an assumed name, we have to understand her all over again.

The same kind of thing happens when we discover that Jesus is our own friend and brother. We have known about him for years, but suddenly everything changes. We know him now as our brother and special friend. That is what we read about in Luke’s story of the two disciples journeying to Emmaus, and how they discovered Jesus as an intimate friend in the breaking of bread.

We awaken to Jesus in many different ways. Some discover him in an insightful moment of prayer. Others in the stillness of a mountain top. Others in the charitable works of good people. We notice a Mother Teresa, meet a missionary, and observe that Jesus’ ministry to the poor is being conducted in our midst. Suddenly, it dawns on us that these poor amongst us are the same poor Jesus spoke about. We have always known about the conditions of the destitute, their hunger and suffering, but somehow we never put it all together. When we understand, our hearts catch fire. We have found Jesus in the most unlikely circumstances. We cannot explain this to others who have not experienced it. It is our own awakening, something God does in the depths of our souls.

The two disciples reawakened to Jesus in today’s Gospel when they suddenly recognized Him in the scriptures and in the breaking of bread: the Eucharist.

We need to tune up our faith. We need to trust more in the Lord’s desire to meet our real needs. We need to care more about those around us, knowing that the risen Lord is working through them to make our lives more Christian.

The risen Christ makes it clear in this Gospel that however distressed we are, he is there with us, available, eager to hear our woes and heal us through the scriptures and His Eucharist.

The road to Emmaus runs from Jerusalem right through your church, down your street and into your heart. Any stranger or member of your Christian family can bring you the message of Jesus. We know that he is truly present, however, when we gather for Mass, hear his word, and participate in the Eucharist for it was in the breaking of bread, especially, that the two disciples recognized Jesus.

Fr. Hugh Duffy