3rd. Sunday of Easter (A)
(Acts of
the Apostles 2:14, 22-33; 1st. Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35)
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, after His Resurrection,
Jesus appeared personally in human form to certain women who had served Him in the
course of His public ministry, and to the Apostles. In today’s Gospel reading, however, we heard
of His appearing to two disciples -- one named Cleopas and the other unknown to
us – as they were walking to Emmaus, which archaeologists have recently discovered
and literally un-earthed, and which seems to have been a wealthy village in
close, Sabbath-walk, proximity to Jerusalem.
And although Jesus appeared to Cleopas and his companion in human form, He
only became personally known to them in the same way that He wills to reveal
Himself to us and all His disciples throughout the ages, that is, in and through
the Scriptures and our celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Jesus appeared and said to them,
"What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you
walk and are sad?"
Their hearts and minds were filled with memories of Jesus’
public ministry -- His teaching and controversies and, perhaps above all else, His
recent miraculous raising of Lazarus of Bethany from his tomb -- and they had been
talking together, lovingly yet painfully, about what had so recently befallen
Jesus Himself, and what sort of future His crucifixion boded for their own
hopes and for the destiny of Israel. Without
Him, the bottom of their world seemed to have been knocked out, as they
explained:
We were hoping that it was He who
was going to redeem Israel.
By His choice of these two men on the way to Emmaus Jesus shows
us that He wills to reveal Himself only to those who seek to know and love Him
and who aspire to follow Him; and it is both delightful and inspiring for us to
hear how their hearts thrilled and their attention was held spellbound as Jesus
-- walking beside them along the dusty road and sharing so simply in their
conversation -- gradually revealed and explained to them the significance of
the many references to Himself to be found in Israel’s sacred Scriptures:
They said to one another,
"Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road,
and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
Such was the solace, uplift, new-found confidence, and hope
that His words inspired in them that they were most loath to lose his
companionship as their own destination was now at hand:
Drawing near to the village where
they were going, He indicated that He would have gone farther; but they
constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the
day is far spent."
And, because of the warmth of their charity and the obvious
sincerity and depth of their gratitude, we learn that:
He
went in to stay with them.
Walking along the road together with these two down-cast
supporters of His public ministry, and discussing its profound impact on
Israel’s religious expectations, Jesus had already rewarded their incipient
faith and hope by interpreting the Scriptures for them; and now, at their shared
meal, He rewarded their fraternal charity with His Eucharistic self-revelation
and gift:
He took bread, blessed and broke
it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes
were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
They were men of faith wanting to hope in the Lord: and Jesus’
revelation of His presence in the Scriptures had already given them renewed confidence
and deepened conviction. However, they still
needed the spiritual strength of a personal calling to face up to the
difficulties looming ahead on their horizon, and Jesus’ Eucharistic Presence
and blessing would give them that required strength of mind and peace of heart
to trust and serve Him wholeheartedly no matter what those trials might turn
out to be.
With that their eyes were opened
and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight.
Before that encounter with the Risen Lord they had been leaving
Jerusalem each for their own personal reasons; now, however, immediately forgetting
themselves, their own interests, and perhaps also -- since it was late, dark,
and lonely, on their way back to the city -- their own safety, we are told
that:
They rose up that very hour and
returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them
gathered together.
There, they learnt that Jesus’ meeting with them was but
one of several such appearances, all of which were, it would seem, not merely
for individuals but for the comforting and strengthening in faith of the whole
Church; and especially was that the case with His appearing to Peter.
Together, the whole Church, including Mary the Mother of
Jesus, prayed over what had happened, and Peter came to understand something of
the meaning of these, and subsequent, appearances which led him, at Pentecost,
to proclaim publically and in the name of the Church:
Men of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth,
Whom you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death, God has
raised up, of which we are all witnesses, having loosed the pains of death,
because it was not possible that He should be held by it. Therefore being
exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the
promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
As members of the Church of Christ founded on Peter the
Rock, the two Emmaus disciples would thrill anew to a fresh awareness and
deeper appreciation of Jesus’ presence with them -- this time on the way of
life -- and to a most acute and astounding experience of the Church as the very
Body of Christ, living because Jesus Himself was living and, as her Head, would
be with her to the end of time. Again, they would find in the Church that
which they had heard the Lord say and seen Him do – unlock the Scriptures and
share the Eucharistic Meal -- for the Lord had expressly commissioned the
Apostles to do these things in memory of Himself. Thus, feeding on the divine pastures of a
land flowing with milk and honey, they would gradually learn to give constant praise
to God the Father for Jesus’ enduring presence in His Church for the salvation
of mankind! For The Church is, indeed,
called to continue and bring to fulfilment the mission of Christ; and it is only
the full celebration of Mass -- as liturgy of the Word, and liturgy of the Eucharist,
both Sacrifice and Sacrament – that can give supreme glory to God and build up the
Church up to maturity as the Body of Christ living to the full by the Spirit of
Christ.
At times some Catholics have flirted with the idea that the
liturgical celebration of Holy Mass is really only suitable for Sundays and
days of obligation and only necessary for occasionally stocking up Hosts for
the coming week, flippantly asserting that all that really matters is love for Jesus
expressed so simply (and easily!) by the communion of mutual self-giving with
Him in our reception of the Eucharist. That
is totally irreverent and quite wrong. At
Holy Mass, the whole Jesus – glorified Lord with His Mystical Body – is called
and must ever seek to give supreme glory to the Father in sublime fulfilment of
the original purpose of Creation, and in that context only is mankind offered salvation,
in Jesus, by the power of the Spirit; and we receive Holy Communion fruitfully only
insofar as we are one in mind and heart with Jesus in His sacrificial offering
to the Father.
As Catholics and Christians, we must be constantly aware that
Jesus’ abiding presence in, with and for, Mother Church is an expression of His
love for the Father, and in fulfilment of the purpose for which He was
originally sent as Man. The pouring out His Holy Spirit on mankind through the sacraments
of Mother Church is done that He might form us all as living members in the One
Mystical Body and as individual likenesses to and servants of Christ the Head of
that Body, so that the Risen and Glorious Lord might ultimately be able to lead
us all into the presence of the Father, as adopted sons and daughters in the supremely
beloved and only-begotten Son, for the eternal praise and glory of the Father. Our response to that awareness and calling constitutes,
indeed, our spiritual pilgrimage on earth, and can become our deepest and most abiding
foretaste of heavenly charity and joy.
Peter who, in the name of the Church, proclaimed the
significance of Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension and His Gift of the Holy
Spirit, also teaches us, in the second reading, the sort of response we should
give to God who does such great deeds and offers such glorious promises for all
who are true disciples of His Son:
If you say ‘Father’ to Him Who
judges everyone impartially on the basis of what they have done, you must live
in awe of Him during your time on earth.
You know well that it was nothing of passing value -- like silver or
gold -- that bought your freedom from the futility of your traditional ways; you were set free by Christ’s precious blood,
blood like that of a lamb without mark or blemish.
So, People of God, rejoice in the Lord always, but always
with awe; honour Mother Church and strive to receive her sacraments with both deep
reverence and heartfelt love; for reverence and love, far from being
irreconcilable, are absolutely necessary for true worship of God. Without sovereign reverence there is no
appreciation of, or possible love for, the all-holy God. Pray the Holy Spirit -- the Promise of the
Father and Pentecostal Gift of Jesus -- to come and rule in your mind and heart
so that, under all conditions and in all situations, you may share with Jesus
and Mother Church in giving constant worship, praise, glory, and honour, to God
the Father, Who sent Jesus as our Saviour and now calls us -- in Him and by His
Spirit -- to Himself as His own adopted and most truly loved-in-the-Beloved children.
