3rd Sunday of Easter
Fr. Albert
“He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, reveals himself to the disciples in the Eucharist. This journey to Emmaus, this journey to a deeper faith is what we do at every Mass. Reading from Scripture; a homily explaining the Scriptures, the breaking of the bread and recognizing Christ present in the Eucharist. He disappears immediately after breaking the bread to tell us, to show us that we will see him there instead of in the flesh.
But, that journey of faith has many layers, and the Eucharist will be useless to us if we are not disposed to receive it. If we never listen to him scripture, if we do not pray, if we never proclaim him to others, if we don’t even try to avoid sin – then, we won’t recognize Christ in the breaking of the bread and will continue our journey, downcast and without understanding.
St. Peter knows the danger of inattentively stumbling along through life. So subtle is the danger of distraction that we can even forget that we are going anywhere at all, forget that life is in fact a journey. So, Both Jesus & Peter call our attention to two points of reference that ground us and guide us: the past and the future. Peter points to the past with King David. Jesus goes through all of Scripture. Peter speaks of our hope. Jesus vanishes, leaving us in anticipation.
So many of the problems in the world, in the Church, and in our own lives come from not knowing our history. Imagine if you had no memory whatsoever. Then everything that happened would be a surprise; nothing would make sense and you couldn’t anticipate anything. Expand that to months, years, decades, and even centuries. If you do not know what has happened before, you will not be able to fully grasp what is happening now. The Middle East, tensions with North Korea – those don’t make sense if you don’t know the history of war and division that led us to the point we’re at now.
Why in the world do so many people think that that truth doesn’t apply to their own faith? How many Christians, how many of us right here know almost nothing about our history. Who was St. Clement? What happened at the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople? What happened in the year 1054 or 1523? When someone is confused about the division between Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Lutherans, it might be because they do not know their own past.
It’s not that we need to memorize dates to love God, but we cannot expect to know and love the eternal God if we don’t know anything about what he’s done in time. The disciples on the road to Emmaus miss the significance of the Crucifixion because they miss the significance of their own history. Even though the Jews know their history and the importance of King David, they misunderstand it because they do not see history with the eyes of faith, in the light of God’s grace.
Even now there is so much confusion in the Catholic Church about what we believe about marriage, the Eucharist, morality, the difference between men and women. We even fight about the one thing that we actually do together – we fight about what to do at Mass. Every single one of those arguments is a lot easier to deal with if you know where we’ve come from, if you realize that you are not an isolated believer, but a member of an ancient Church whose core teaching never changes, even if emphasis and the externals do change. Does your faith not make sense? Does everything seem arbitrary? Then delve into your history, both in scripture and the tradition of the Church. But don’t just read a Wikipedia article, search with the eyes of faith; Go to those who know and pass on our history in the light of faith.
And yet, even knowing the past, knowing tradition, is not enough. When faced with the drudgery of daily life, the murkiness of conflicting points of view, we need a kind of beacon to guide us home. Where are we headed? What does the future hold? The disciples going to Emmaus may not have realized it explicitly, but that vision of the future is part of what excited them so greatly. The idea that Jesus died and was once again walking around in a miraculous body opens up an entirely new world of possibilities. If he’s come back from the grave, so can we. If this body of his has such mystical properties, so will ours.
How much do you know about the resurrection? About heaven? God hasn’t told us everything, but the Church does have a considerable collection of teachings, homilies, and reflections on what the future holds for us. When your motivation is lacking or when we aren’t sure what will happen next, it would be wise to read and pray with some of these teachings and reflections; It gives us hope and a sense of meaning.
For instance, have you ever been sick or injured? Have you ever had the experience of being unable to make your body do what you want? That won’t be the case in your new body. We have figured out a few things about the resurrected human body from what we see of Jesus. Even this passage in the Gospel shows us a little about what we can look forward to.
Our bodies will be able to pass through matter in the same way that Jesus passes through locked doors, appears, and disappears in front of his disciples. Our glorified bodies will be completely free of pain. These new bodies will be completely responsive to our will – no more strain, paralysis, or lack of coordination. If we want to move in a certain way, our bodies will respond perfectly. And, we will be filled with a glorious light, radiating the beauty of God, perfectly aged and without envy or worry.
And thats not even the best part of our future, but I can’t explain it all here. If you do not appreciate the gift we have in the Eucharist and the other sacraments, if your faith is boring, if you aren’t sure what matters… consider what you know of where we come from and where we are going. Our history and tradition give us a foundation. Our future gives us hope. Our God is Lord of them both and by them he will show us the path of life. And so I ask you, what, then, will you do with the present?
