Date: April 26, 2020 ()

Bible Text: Luke 24:13-35 |

Series:

A Filipino friend of mine who is a regular churchgoer once told me sheepishly: “Father, it’s a shame only very seldom do I read the bible.” She, most of the time, hears the word of God only on Sundays at Mass and gets to understand some of the things the bible is saying through the homily of the priest. The fact is: Reading the bible is one thing; understanding the message is another thing. I remember a class in theology when we were talking about Marcion - this religious figure was the proponent of the heresy known as Marcionism. Generally, he was a heretic for excluding the Old Testament in the Bible. He rejected the God of Israel calling Him a tyrant or demiurge; though he believed that Jesus was the savior sent by God. Something can really go wrong when we only look at things from our personal perspective and not allow the Holy Spirit to help us understand God’s mysteries.

At the Alleluia verse today before this morning’s gospel reading, a beautiful prayer is said: “Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts burn while you speak to us.

I don’t really say these exact words in prayer whenever I prepare for my message but somehow this is how my prayer sounds like. And, I have always found out that when the Lord is speaking, his words burn my heart with passion; give me a very different kind of enthusiasm and courage. Why? Because when the Lord speaks—the message is so clear and so true, and I can’t resist the power of His inspiration.

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” These are the words of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus as they began to understand the Words of the Scriptures revealed to them by the Risen Lord. This time, all confusions are gone. Everything just makes sense and what is left now is only the clarity of purpose and meaning in life. Why? Because it is the Lord who speaks.

The journey to Emmaus is actually a journey with the Eucharist. The two constitutive elements of the Mass were introduced to us by the Lord here, namely: the liturgy of the Word where Jesus explained to us the scriptures and its meaning; and the liturgy of the Eucharist where Jesus broke bread with them. Without most of us knowing, the Eucharist is indeed the source and summit of our Christian life—that is, the source of our strength, the source of our inspiration whose goal for being is to serve back the Source.

Like the two disciples, our life’s journey could be caught up in darkness, in confusion and frustration. It is for these reasons that Jesus left us a companion in our journey to serve us a light and inspiration that will enable us to understand the mysteries of human existence. He left us the Eucharist where, in a very personal and intimate way, He can journey with us at times when we are treading on our own respective roads to Emmaus.

Most studies agree that the road to Emmaus was a dead end. As we have known, most dead ends are cliffs or dangerous edges one would not want to go otherwise he can fall to death. We might wonder why Jesus had to, as it were, prioritize to go to Emmaus before appearing to most of His disciples at a locked room in Jerusalem? We had been given the impression that these two disciples while walking were also discussing and debating. It must be a sad conversation - one that is filled with disappointment and frustrations knowing that their anticipated Messiah had just died and so, again He was a failure. Their frustration was manifested by their faces that looked downcast. That road going to the dead-end was a road to despair. And the Lord had to meet them there, to rescue them from that darkness.

During our retreat, a friend priest shared with us about his knowledge of the geography of the place. He said: “the road to Emmaus was going westward; to the direction where the sunsets.” And Jesus encountered them there only to implicitly persuade them to go the opposite direction, apparently eastward, going to the east, going to Jerusalem, but this time not anymore downcast but joyful because they had already seen clearly with 20/20 vision the greater scheme of things; and what they saw was real because they had shared a meal with the risen Lord. The person who told us about the resurrection was resurrected Himself. And He is as real and as intimate as a friend who dines with us, who lives within us as we receive His body and blood in the sacrament of communion. Now the two disciples would come back to Jerusalem to let the other disciples know that the good news is true without question. Now they would go eastward to behold the sunrise, to proclaim the rising of the great Light.

Whether we like or not the pandemic will surely come. And now it’s here. But I guess it comes just at the right time: when the priests know how to use their cellphones; when the priests are now familiar with Facebook, Zoom, and YouTube. Pope Francis is on twitter and we remember him at the early years of his papacy lauding the giftedness of technology, of social media. While most of us then were so overwhelmed by some bad influences of social media; the pope looks at it with optimism. The point is: despite today’s lockdown and suspension of public celebrations of the sacraments, the Eucharist continues to be celebrated perhaps in a different mode - now we have private Eucharistic Celebrations streamlined to the Social Media. This beautiful sacrament left to us by Jesus will continue to accompany us in all our journeys to give us hope; to be a beckon of light.

Karl Barth, one of the twentieth century's most famous theologians, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lived and lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on the streetcar and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. "Are you new to the city?" Barth inquired. "Yes," said the tourist. "Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?" asked Barth. "Yes," he said, "I'd love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?" Barth replied, "Well as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning." The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, "I met Karl Barth's barber today." That amuses me. That tourist was in the presence of the very person he most wanted to meet, but even with the most obvious clue, he never realized that the man with whom he was talking was the great man himself.

“While on the road to Emmaus, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.” At certain times, we might hardly recognize the presence of the Lord no matter how present He always has been. We might ask: Where is the East? Where is the Light? Where is the Lord?

This time, we can turn to Jesus in the blessed sacrament. We can behold Him at the center of the altar; we can recognize Him at the breaking of the Bread. We might even wonder why most monstrance are designed to appear like the Sun. We are to understand that in reality, Jesus is the Sol Invictus, He is the unconquered rising Sun in the East, now right before us to be adored and glorified.

In his apostolic letter Mane nobiscum Domine, St. Pope John Paul II says that when the two disciples urged Jesus to stay with them, Jesus afterwards responded by giving them a way to stay in him, by entering into "a profound communion with Jesus" through the "Sacrament of the Eucharist" (cf. John 15:4). Soon after Jesus agreed to their request to stay. According to the Pope, "Jesus' face would disappear, yet the Master would 'stay' with them, hidden in the 'breaking of the bread' which had opened their eyes to recognize him. Now, therefore, when minds are enlightened and hearts are enkindled, signs begin to 'speak'."[24]

Jesus is present with us today. Let our souls cry out: Stay with us, Lord. We are in deep fear because the scourge of the pandemic is overwhelmingly beyond our control. Stay with us, Lord, and show us the path of life. Let us take rest upon your consoling care and abide in the peace of your life-giving love.