Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Lectionary: 263

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,

he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.

We can only imagine the deep distress of Jesus’s disciples after his crucifixion. It was not supposed to happen; it could not happen. But it did. Where do we go from here?

Eventually the rumors on that Sunday morning were confirmed; he had been raised up! He is alive! But he also died; we saw it. He is, by any normal standard, dead. How do we make sense of this?

On the road to Emmaus, soon after his death, Cleopas and his friend were processing everything that has happened. They didn’t understand for several reasons: they had not received the Holy Spirit; their eyes were not opened; and they were not seeing the last three days, since the Passover meal in the Cenacle to this moment, in the light of history and tradition. Their discussion did not include Abraham, Moses, David, or Jeremiah and the prophets; much less the psalms, Maccabees, Qoheleth and Sirach. Although they had expectations of a messiah, they had not recognized that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

 

Theologians and catechists like to point to this story as a parable about the practice of faith. How do those who believe in Jesus deepen their love of God? How do they uproot attitudes and habits that do not fit our way of life? Where will our guidance come from? 

• The story of is about probing conversation. Two good men share with each other their confusion and distress as they search for understanding. 
• They share their conversation with a stranger and welcome his insight. 
• They see current events in the light of their religious traditions. Our world is not so different from the world of the Bible. The more we know of the Bible the more familiar our world becomes. Culture shock and future shock are eased as we realize that God's fidelity has never changed, nor has our human nature. We are the same foolish, undependable, willful people that God called out of Egypt many centuries ago.
• They hospitably invite the stranger to stay with them that evening. 
• They recognize him by the breaking of bread; that is, by the Eucharist. 
• They realize their hearts were burning as he spoke to them; and, because they love the Lord in their hearts, they may follow their hearts' desires. 
• They return immediately to Jerusalem, despite the dark and the distance, to share the Good News.  

Cleopas seems to be a known figure in the early church. Who is the other person? It is you and I. We are disciples, students of Jesus, eager to learn more of him and especially to know where we belong in God's world. We must never stop asking, discussing, praying, discerning, and waiting for that revelation.