by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy

v30He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. v31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. v32They said to each other, “Wasn’t it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
(Read: Luke 24:13-35)
The gospel lessons in the Sundays of Easter are narratives recalling the event that transpired after Jesus has risen from the dead. This third Sunday of Easter is the story of the risen Lord’s encounter with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. The time of the encounter could be placed in the afternoon of Easter – just hours after Jesus rose from the dead. We know little about Emmaus, which is about eleven kilometers from Jerusalem. The story does not tell us why the two disciples were going to Emmaus, though their hospitality to Jesus – their invitation to stay with them – makes it likely that Emmaus is their home. One of the disciple-traveler is named Cleophas.
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One sermon writer notice that the saddest words in the English language begin with the letter D. For example, disappointment, doubt, disillusionment, defeat, despair and death. All of these are summed up in the words of Cleopas and his companion to the stranger who joined them on the Emmaus road. They had left the dispirited and confused band of disciples with the events of Good Friday fresh in their memories. We can sympathize with their bewilderment.
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As far as the disciples were concerned Jesus was dead and had left them alone in the world to fend for themselves. They were utterly dismayed. They were certainly not prepared to see him alive. Yet as they were on their journey, and discussing all the things that had happened, Jesus himself came near and went with them. But the one they encountered was not the flesh and blood Jesus, a resuscitated version of the man they knew, but the Christ of God, one knowable only by the mystery of divine self-revelation.
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The Master they had revered, loved and followed had been horribly put to death – a cruel death of the most degrading kind. Death by crucifixion was the most shameful of deaths; the victim was made a public spectacle, exposed to the jeers of all that passed by. Only a week before, on Palm Sunday, the disciples’ hopes had risen to fever pitch when the excited crowds had hailed their Master as the longed-for deliverer from the tyranny of Roman occupation but now he lay dead in a sealed tomb! Their hopes were dashed; the dream was over!
But this Christ, unrecognizable to them at first, discussed with them the things that were burning in their hearts. He listened to their hopes and dreams for a messiah, their longing for the redemption of Israel, their disillusionment over the crucifixion and their confusion over whether the story told by the women at the tomb has merit, whether his entombed and embalmed body had really been spirited away.
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This Emmaus road encounter is a story of hiddenness and revelation, of knowing and unknowing, of fleeting possession and eternal presence. When the risen Christ was walking beside them they were unaware of his presence. They only came to recognize his presence in the breaking of the bread. And once their eyes were opened and they thought they could hold on to his presence, in an instant he vanished from their sight. This story points a finger at us and sheds light on our own situation in times of trial. Their distress is ours in many ways and their sadness sounds familiar to our ears. How many times have we walked the road to Emmaus with downcast face occasioned by quarrels with others, difficulties at work or the loneliness of being rejected? The troubles and worries of life can so crowd our minds that we lose our sense of direction and are brought to the point of despair. All the time we forget that Jesus is walking with us, at our side ready and anxious to help us if only we would turn to him for guidance, in these moments of quiet desperation.
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In today’s modern world not much has changed. We like the two disciples of old are left to ponder and reflect upon the same curious going on; unknowing encounters with God along the road, God made present as blessed and broken bread and our desire to keep hold of a God who vanishes. But the good news is that God has not changed even now. God still encounters us along the road. Each person walks along the road to Emmaus. Emmaus being the path through life we are following, the road to wherever is our existence is taking us.
Along this road God walks with us whether we are aware of His presence or not. Whether we are believers or unbelievers, faithful or unfaithful, God is ever present, as the rain falls upon good and evil alike. “Because we are living, because we are human, we are never bereft of the presence of God. God is always with us, but we are not always with God. The gift of Christian faith, the blessing of discipleship is not “having God present” for God is always present. Instead, the gift of faith is recognizing God’s presence and having that re-cog-nition shape and guide our lives.” (Karen M Ward). This is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of recognizing the Lord’s presence in our lives. One way we do this is by growing closer to him through daily prayer and scripture reading.
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We encounter the Lord amidst the ordinariness of human life, in the relationships we establish at work and share together. At Sunday Mass, Jesus invites us to relive the Emmaus experience as we share the Eucharist with him. We bring to Mass the joys and sorrows of the week that has gone and Christ speaks to us as he spoke to the two disciples on that road to Emmaus. He will throw light on every moment of joy and show that every bit of suffering has a purpose, giving us a motive for living a deeply religious life. Every time we share in the breaking of the bread as we participate in the Holy Eucharist, we can pray to have our eyes open so that we can see beyond the sufferings of human living, to the joy that is all around us and ahead of us. The we are able to set out and proclaim the good news to those we will meet through all the days of our lives.
When we tell others about what God has done in our lives, we not only by that testimony provide others an opportunity to embrace the grace of God, we strengthen our own faith in God. If God has been there for us in the past, we can trust God to be there for us in the future.
Let us pray.
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of the bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.**