The Road to Emmaus
Cleopas and his companion are leaving Jerusalem after the disastrous end to the onetime Jesus movement. Jesus had been a prophet of mighty word and deed, the one, they had thought, to redeem Israel, the one, they had hoped, would set them free. But a few powerful men were able to end all of that. Jesus had now been dead for three days - the time, in Jewish understanding, when a soul passes from this life to the next. Jesus was truly dead. For Cleopas and his companion, it was time to return to normal life.
Journeying from Jerusalem the two companions would travel steadily downhill as evening approached. As they walked the Risen Lord drew near to them, somehow unrecognizable, and asked about their conversation. They spoke of their dashed hopes and recounted the astounding story told by the woman, about the empty tomb and the vision of angels. But a lack of faith made this story fantastical and unbelievable. No, Jesus was dead, and these stories were just a flight of fancy. There was no reason for hope.“Oh, how foolish you are”, Jesus says. Oh, how foolish we are. Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke. From the beginning of time itself the plan of salvation would demand that Christ would take the burden of sin upon himself, would suffer, die, and having been resurrected, would enter his Glory. This moment was, and is, the very pinnacle of history from which all points of time come streaming, as if rays of light from the very heart of God himself. Jesus would go on to explain to the two disciples how “the Scriptures” point to the mystery of his person. Without Jesus’ help, they could not by themselves make the connection between what happened to Jesus and the writings of the Old Testament. Hearing and now understanding, their hearts would begin to burn – as if the crust formed by their hopelessness and faithlessness cracked and broke away to allow the Holy Spirit to make his presence felt. But this fire, now lite and burning, was yet to be consummated.
This holy consummation begins with the words, “stay with us”. Stay with us, because our hearts know there is yet more. Stay with us, because in your presence we begin to understand that our place in time and space is not random, nor without meaning. Stay with us, because by your Words we begin to comprehend God’s love, and the truth of everlasting life. As a man and woman marry because of the desire to stay with each other, we too wish to stay with the beloved. So, Jesus stays with Cleopas and his companion as requested, but only until they are able to recognize him fully and in a new way. And so it was that in the breaking of the bread that the realization of who their wayfarer friend was came crashing into their awareness. This is Jesus, and then, he vanishes. He vanishes but is not gone, rather he makes himself more present, intimately present, in a way hard to understand but nevertheless no less real. Jesus says, 'you ask me to stay with you. I will not only stay with you, but I will remain in you, and together we will remain in the Father. I will take what you ask of me and do so much more.'
The journey of our life too is one where hopelessness, faithlessness, darkness, can sadden our spirits. Yet Jesus journeys alongside us and can help guide our minds and hearts to a fuller understanding of our place in God’s plan for salvation. Our hearts will burn within us. Having understood, we too say, “stay with us”, and so are shepherded into the mystery of divine profundity and presence, by means of the Holy Eucharist.
The words spoken to the disciples that caused their hearts to burn was the bridge to the mystery of the presence of God in the breaking of bread. From reason and intellectual understanding, the two companions are now brought into the mystery of God, not as observers but as participants. This mystery impels them, as it does us today, to be a living part of the death and resurrection, and new life of Jesus. And it points by necessity to a future when Christ will come again at the end of time. Our participation in the Eucharist is the spiritual marriage of our soul with God at the very height of that singular point in history from which everything flows. This is not a remembrance nor a reenactment but rather we are made present to those very moments of death and resurrection, union, and life.
Our story concludes with the two disciples, now with hope restored, faith reignited, and nourished by the bread of life, immediately setting out for Jerusalem to be reunited with the Apostles. It was dark now, and their journey of seven miles would be uphill and with some risk from robbers and thieves.
As we now prepare to approach the Eucharist let us heed the words of Pope Saint John Paul II and be on guard against our inclination to reduce the Eucharist to our own dimension and ideas, rather let us open ourselves up to the dimension of Mystery, as our companions did on the Road to Emmaus. The same mystery to which we are invited to participate.
Deacon Peter – St., Agnes Parish, Arlington, Massachusetts
April 23rd, 2023
