April 15, 2020
Acts 3:1-10; Luke 24:13-35
Wednesday after Easter
Weekday prayer service at St. Catherine of Siena church
Today’s gospel passage tells the well-known story of the disciples meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus. I really like how the resurrection appearances of Jesus are so different: sometimes he shows his wounds to the disciples; sometimes he materializes in a locked room. In Emmaus Jesus appears as some stranger who doesn’t even look like Jesus.
In today’s Gospel passage, at first the disciples are dejected; they “were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel,” but all their faith in him died when the high priests condemned him and the Romans crucified him. Instead of establishing his kingdom in glory, the supposed Messiah was humiliated and crushed. While “they were conversing and debating” about these things, the stranger shows up, and even if he doesn’t look like Jesus, he talks like Jesus. He rebukes their dejection and points out places in the scripture that prophesy a suffering leader, like the servant poems of Isaiah and Psalm 22, which begins “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”
The final recognition comes when Cleopas and his friend share a meal with Jesus: “It happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” (Luke 24:30) Does this sequence sound familiar? At the Last Supper the same sequence appears: “He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.’” (Luke 22:19) This same sequence of actions appears in 1 Corinthians, Mark, and Matthew. Scholars tell us it was used in the celebration of the Eucharist already in the first century, and the same sequence of actions has been carefully preserved in the Mass down to the present day. After the reading and discussion of the scriptures and the gospel, the priest takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it.
What is happening in Emmaus is Eucharist. And so much flows from that. First, of course, the disciples recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. How thrilling is that? Their defeated Messiah is in fact not dead, not defeated by the religious and imperial authorities; he is alive, and God has given him the victory over his enemies and over death.
But the disciples also recognize Jesus in the stranger. The unknown traveler on the road turns out to be the Christ. Even today, Christ is the stranger in the next pew who we share Eucharist with and come to recognize as our brother or sister.
And there is another thing that the disciples recognize. In Luke’s account of the Last Supper, when Jesus gives the cup to his disciples he says, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you [that] from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” (Luke 22:18) But at Emmaus he is sharing a meal with them; he is drinking the fruit of the vine. With Jesus’ resurrection, the kingdom of God has arrived, and the proof of it is the Eucharist that they are celebrating together in Emmaus.
So today’s readings are a wonderful celebration of the power of Eucharist, in which we recognize Christ’s victory over death, which we celebrated especially on Easter Sunday; we see him in our neighbors at Mass; and we experience together in a symbolic way the kingdom of God on earth.
Well, that’s wonderful, and in normal times we might be celebrating Eucharist together right now in this church. Now I’m standing here in an empty church and you are watching a screen at home. We are not together and we cannot share the body and blood of the Lord. Stupid corona virus!
Yet today’s psalm still exhorts us to “Rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!” (Ps 105:3) and the Gospel acclamation says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Because we have not lost the gifts of Emmaus. We know that Jesus is risen. Wasn’t it wonderful to celebrate his resurrection at Sunday’s Mass here and see the familiar Easter decorations, the flowers, and the flowing fountain? And we recognized Christ in each other and even were able to sing together, even if we couldn’t see each other. As Fr. Joe said in his homily, “We are one body always, whether we are together or apart.”
And like the disciples at Emmaus we know that the kingdom of God has arrived, even if now we can celebrate it only virtually for the time being. We’re blessed to have the technology, but I’m sure looking forward to celebrating eucharist together again.