Third Sunday of Easter, cycle A

Luke 24:13-35

The gospel story you have just heard is one that resonates with most of us.  You have two disciples -- I like to think they are a married couple.  In Matthew there is a reference to a Mary, the wife of Clopas, which is close enough to Cleopas mentioned in this story.  It says they are disciples.  They’ve been part of the Jesus movement, they’ve witnessed his miracles, they’ve heard him teach, they have been captured by his charisma, enough so that they do whatever they can to be near him, to follow in his footsteps.  And then this miracle worker, this man who seems to be the Messiah every one is expecting, is suddenly condemned and put to death, by the Romans, but with the full compliance of the Jewish authorities.  

I think most of us on our faith journey go through periods where we wonder if it's all a myth, whether I’m wasting my time.  The death of the Messiah is sort of like the priests who are found to have abused children, the seeming crimes church leaders have committed against indigenous people -- and every time they take a poll they find fewer and fewer people believe or even want to believe.  Some countries which were bastions of Christianity now have maybe ten percent of their populations who are active Christians, and in some of these countries, the number of active Muslims will soon overwhelm the Christians.  They have put our Messiah to death. 

But it’s not the first time.  When you read about saints, one characteristic you see over and over again is that they are reformers.  You have popes who reformed, you have saints who have reformed popes.  You have heresies that nearly wiped out orthodox Christianity.  The whole history of Christianity is one of seeming failure followed by reform and rebuilding.  And we shouldn’t be surprised; it’s the story of the Old Testament as well.  

Notice that our disciples are going over the things that are happening, that have happened, the reasons for their loss of hope.  And into this steps Jesus, who tells them that all this was predicted, it was there in the word of God.  And Jesus to them is a stranger at this point.  But they will recall later that their hearts were “burning within them” when he opened the scriptures.  Did your heart ever “burn” within you?  I think we’ve all had the experience of suddenly understanding something that used to be mysterious.  It happens a lot on college campuses and when people learn a trade.  And it happens when you sit down seriously with scripture, listening for God to speak to you.  As the Emmaus disciples were to learn, when our hearts burn within us, the Lord is close. 

Finally Jesus reveals himself in the breaking of the bread.  Notice the structure.  Doesn’t this remind you of the Mass?  You hear the scriptures, you have them explained, and you participate in the breaking of the bread, and Jesus becomes present.  We reenact Emmaus every time we attend our liturgy.  And of course when Jesus is no longer present, the disciples find themselves on mission.  They are no longer afraid, they realize that if  someone is going to announce to the world this remarkable fact, this resurrection from the dead of the Messiah, it will be them.  So they get up and rush back to the apostles to tell them what they experienced.  Kind of like we are supposed to do once we’ve encountered the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread during our Mass.  

Is the church failing in its mission?  By almost any measurement, it is -- in some parts of the world, while in others the Church is doing quite well.  But where it is failing, that’s our fault, we are the Church, we have a treasure to share with the world, we have the assurance of Jesus himself that if we speak up he will speak for us before the Father; but if we deny him, he will deny us.  And we deny him when we keep silent.  I”m old enough to remember a time -- after Vatican II, when our country was inflamed with religious fervor, among Catholics as well as Protestants and Jews. We had all caught fire; there was the Charismatic movement; there was the founding of small colleges and other educational institutions under the Christian banner.  There were evangelists on television on Sunday morning, people who had a wide following as they talked about the Gospel.  And it wasn’t the first time.  When I was growing up there was Bishop Sheen, who commanded a huge television audience of people of all denominations.  I met a rabbi once who said he attributed his vocation to watching Bishop Sheen, not because he agreed with him, but the enthusiasm of the Bishop for his faith rubbed off on him.  And there were other times when faith would flare up.  It’s time it happened again.  And like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus is there to help us if we leave this supper and tell the world of our own experience.