Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- The Real Presence of Emmaus

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 04.12.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

WEDNESDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER
Luke 24:13–35

Friends, in today’s Gospel,
two disciples meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
He asks what they are discussing and one recites all of the data concerning him.

Then Jesus speaks: “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!”
He then rehearsed for them the whole of the biblical story,
showing how it culminated in the Messiah who offered a sacrifice for the salvation of the world.

When they came near the village to which they were heading,
Jesus “gave the impression that he was going on farther,”
but they pressed him to stay.
Then, sitting down with them at table,
Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.”
Repeating the great gestures of the Last Supper,
Jesus made present for them the sacrifice of the cross.

In short, he wove together the themes of the sacred banquet
and the sacrifice that made the banquet possible,
summing up the story of Israel that he had narrated on the road.
And at that moment,
when the Scriptures and the meal and the sacrifice came together as a coherent whole,
they recognized him;
he became really present to them.

[MurphsLaw]

+++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 the bread.

[Hebrews 11:6]

My favorite Bible story. While the risen Lord spent several hours wising up the Fools of Emmaus, finally becoming "present" to them, with whom was He not spending time and becoming "present"? The disciples! The pining-in-agony disciples, whom Jesus left stewing all day long in favor of two fools.

It's not merely hilarious, although it is all of that. It is encouraging. If Jesus has that kind of time for Cleopas and Doofus, He has time for me, too.

[MurphsLaw]

Totally agree. Favored verses for sure.
What I can't ever get past is - why?
Why would this story
be the first thing the Resurrected Christ does on that day?
Why go for a walk with lesser known disciples?-
Basically spending the entire day with them?-
Instead of doing something a lite more " high profile" or notable?

I am open to any suggestions..

[Hebrews 11:6]

I’ve given you my suggestion: to encourage us that He is available and will make time for us.

[MurphsLaw]

I’ve given you my suggestion:

I know.. I got that...
Yes of course, We are to see ourselves
in that intentionally-unnamed disciple pal of Cleopas on the road...

I guess...
just so odd ... as Jesus did then go to see the 12 next anyway.

[Hebrews 11:6]

My wife and I were holding hands and praying in a room with thirty other couples at a Christian marriage weekend, when we were privileged to have Jesus appear to us for several seconds and place his hand atop ours.

That was forty years ago, and we’re still astonished by it. Imagine, then, the afterglow for Cleopas and his companion.

[MurphsLaw]

Wow, that's an Awesome witness for sure...
Yes agreed, an Afterglow- even unto death I would say...
It does explain perhaps how those early Martyr's approached their deaths so Joyously for sure. (Not that I'm "suggesting" anything ... lol)

And one can understand a death like St. Stephen's a little better in that Witness for sure...
(Which btw your NT art is great work... much appreciated and looked forward to.)