READING: (13)And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. (14) And they talked together of all these things which had happened. (15) And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. (16) But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. (17) And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? (18) And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? (19) And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: (20) and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
(21) But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. (22) Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; (23) and when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. (24) And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
(25) Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: (26) ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? (27) And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (28) And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. (29) But they constrained him, saying, abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. (30) And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. (31) And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. (32) And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? (33) And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, (34) saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. (35) And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
HE STILL REVEALS HIMSELF TO LOWLY HEARTS AMIDST LITTLE FAITH
REFLECTION: The two were not famous apostle but they were the followers of Jesus. Look at the risen Lord He gave Himself with such fullness of disclosure to these insignificant men. By this the Lord proclaims that He is the Saviour of the common folk, who does not let down the humble. So let us believe Him that He still reveals Himself to those who seek Him.
Now coming to the gospel passage we see that the two filled with big things which burdened them so much, so they conversed and tried to lessen their load along the way as they walked to Emmaus, though they were inept to do that because of their hearts were filled with sorrow. There comes the true travelling companion who was to lighten their burdens and to travel along with them not just to reach them their destiny but importantly to clear all their clouds of doubts. From the gospel passage we can know that Jesus had walked silently with them for a while and listened to them and then interferes. Jesus knew that they were sad and He wanted to convince them that they had no reason to be sad in other words they no longer need to be sad. He listened to their sad story carefully thus lead them to ventilate all that made them sad as a part of His healing process. The two explained what they did know about Jesus: His name, where He comes from and they knew that He was a prophet. But they did not have enough faith and did not believe what women reported, they did not believe Peter and John because they did not see Him and they did not believe what all the prophets have spoken about the Messiah.
Jesus the great teacher and the illuminator of scriptures began to teach them beginning in Moses and prophets. Jesus’ words influenced them in such a way that they wanted to spend as much time as they could with Him so they held Him to stay with them. They felt irresistibly that this was HE, when He broke the bread. By then He left them, now it is their turn to act. After a seven mile walk one way, they were so excited that they went seven miles back, surely much faster on the return. This shows that Jesus brings back men who walked towards sunset to sunrise.
PRAYER: Jesus can bring meaning and make sense of things; we just need to invite Him to all our chaotic situations. Lord You would not force any of us, You wait for our invitation to come in. Today we come to you with all our doubts and baggage, we too are in need of your intervention in our life. Oh Illuminator, ignite our inner being that we too may know Your plans for us and be docile to your promptings always..
CONTEMPLATION: Let us sit quietly and let God take control of our whole being by shedding His light on us. Be in His presence experiencing His divine life filling our whole self. When we surrender everything to Him, the Lord begins to work in us. Just like the wet log before the burning fire be in His realm, surrendering all that we are and all that we have and as the wet log gradually gets fire so we too will be kindled with the fire of God. And become God’s new creatures with new vigour for the Lord.
ACTION: The greatest gift to us is the gift of free will we can use it to invite Christ to enter into our lives or allow Him to pass on. Let us Choose Christ and His ways always and then witness the miracles in our daily life.
