MEETING JESUS - 4/23/23 (Third Sunday of Easter)

Gospel

Lk 24:13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,

two of Jesus' disciples were going

to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,

and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.

And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,

Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,

but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

He asked them,

"What are you discussing as you walk along?"

They stopped, looking downcast.

One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,

"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem

who does not know of the things

that have taken place there in these days?"

And he replied to them, "What sort of things?"

They said to him,

"The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,

who was a prophet mighty in deed and word

before God and all the people,

how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over

to a sentence of death and crucified him.

But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;

and besides all this,

it is now the third day since this took place.

Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:

they were at the tomb early in the morning

and did not find his body;

they came back and reported

that they had indeed seen a vision of angels

who announced that he was alive.

Then some of those with us went to the tomb

and found things just as the women had described,

but him they did not see."

And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are!

How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things

and enter into his glory?"

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,

he interpreted to them what referred to him

in all the Scriptures.

As they approached the village to which they were going,

he gave the impression that he was going on farther.

But they urged him, "Stay with us,

for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over."

So he went in to stay with them.

And it happened that, while he was with them at table,

he took bread, said the blessing,

broke it, and gave it to them.

With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,

but he vanished from their sight.

Then they said to each other,

"Were not our hearts burning within us

while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"

So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem

where they found gathered together

the eleven and those with them who were saying,

"The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!"

Then the two recounted

what had taken place on the way

and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

Reflection:

A blessed Sunday to all! It is now the third Sunday of Easter, and we are taken back to the road to Emmaus. Two disciples were going away from Jerusalem because of much disappointment at what happened to Jesus. It seems that they wanted to escape and forget everything. Jesus appeared to them without them knowing that it was Jesus. They said to Him, “Both handed him [Jesus] over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel”. For them, hanging on the Cross is still an act of losing. They did not understand God’s plan because they did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus at first. But they were mistaken because believing in the resurrection of Jesus means that the Cross is victory, and it is true for all of us who believe in Jesus. In the last 2,000 years since Jesus rose from the dead, the Cross has become a sign of salvation for us all. Before, it was just one of the most brutal methods of death for criminals. It was shameful to die on the Cross as it is a method of capital punishment - a death penalty. The disciples initially thought it was the end of Jesus, but it was not.

When we do not understand what Jesus’ rising from the dead means, we plunge into a deep darkness in our lives where the problems of life and negativity seem to swallow us. We remain in the tomb, unable to go out with hope. However, if we truly believe that Jesus has risen, and reflect it with all our hearts, then we must believe that even problems, hurts, wounds, pains, setbacks, mistakes, and delays in our lives when offered and carried in Christ, could now be overturned as sources of grace and wisdom in our lives. We, too, could share in the resurrection of Christ here now and by eternal life. There’s no defeat anymore.

We could conquer evil and sin through Christ with the hope that no matter how difficult it gets, we shall pass through all things doing good things and, in the end, inherit eternal life. This is the promise of Jesus but few of us understand it as we drown in the worries of life which Christ does not want for us. Moreover, some of us use different ways to escape in the form of worldly pleasures, vices, or sin but the only thing that we need is the Holy Mass. When Jesus broke the bread, the eyes of the disciples were opened. They believed and understood. Then they hurried back to Jerusalem to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus and the fact that they had seen Him. There’s no need to escape anymore and the once lamented death of Jesus – a hopeless case as they thought it to be, became their joy and fountain of hope because Christ has truly risen as He said. Amen. Alleluia. +

Let's ponder on it. Amen. +

May the Loving and Almighty God bless us all, and may He protect us from temptation and evil now and forever. Amen. +

Reflections by FMMJ

Translations to English by CJT

Full readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042323.cfm