Fr. Roger J. Landry
Conversations with Consequences Podcast
Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter (A), Vigil
April 25, 2020
To listen to an audio recording of this short Sunday homily, please click below:
The following text guided the homily:
- This is Fr. Roger Landry and it’s a joy for me to be with you as we enter into the consequential conversation the Risen Lord Jesus wants to have with each of us this Sunday. It’s based on one of the most famous dialogues he has in Sacred Scripture, with the disciples on the Road to Emmaus on the night he rose from the dead.
- The first was when Jesus met the two disciples along the seven-mile path downhill from Jerusalem to Emmaus. That the two disciples were heading away from Jerusalem was not just an historical fact, but also a symbol of the fact that they were heading away from the faith that Jerusalem symbolizes. Their hearts had just been put in a blender. They had believed in Jesus, deeming him to be the long-awaited Messiah. Yet their hopes were crushed when they saw him mangled and executed by the Romans. Earlier that day, women had said that his tomb was empty and that they had seen a vision of angels saying he had arisen, but they were obviously reluctant to believe again and have their hopes crushed anew. Jesus met them along the way — he met them where they were at, with all their questions and doubts — but their sadness, and likely some undescribed changes in Jesus’ resurrected body, prevented them from recognizing him. This seeming stranger stuck his nose into the middle of their conversation and asked, “What are you talking about?” They thought he had no idea! So they told him about Jesus, a “prophet mighty in deed and word,” who they thought might be the one to “redeem Israel,” but who was betrayed and crucified.” But then the incognito Jesus upbraided them, called them “foolish and slow of heart to believe” and, starting with Moses and all the prophets, interpreted for them all the passages of Sacred Scripture that referred to why the Messiah “had to suffer these things to enter into his glory.” Doubtless he would have mentioned Isaac’s carrying the wood for the sacrifice on his shoulders. He would have mentioned Moses’ through the Passover leading the people through the Red Sea and desert into the promised land. He would have mentioned how Isaiah had given the prophecy of the Suffering Servant, how the Book of Wisdom described that the just man would be beset by evil doers, how the Psalms had foretold so many details of the crucifixion, how Jonah prophesied his spending three days in the belly of the earth, and so much more. As he was talking, the light of truth began to penetrate the great darkness of their sadness. Their hearts began to BURN as he spoke to them along the way, even though they still didn’t recognize who he was. They didn’t want this to end. Hence they invited this Wayfarer into their home: “Stay with us!,” they said. Jesus never wants to force himself on us. He wants to be invited. And they did.
- But Jesus had something far greater in mind than merely staying WITH them. That’s why when he was at table, “he took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them.” Then he seemed to vanish from their midst. But he hadn’t vanished at all, because, as those four verbs indicate to us, he had celebrated with them the Eucharist, as he had with his apostles three nights earlier in the Upper Room. They could no longer see Jesus with their eyes, but Jesus remained with them under the appearances of the Eucharist. The Lord did not want merely to stay WITH them, but to stay IN them.
- Then, even though it was already night and there were no streetlights in the ancient world, even though they were probably tired from the seven mile journey downhill, they burst through the door of their home and ran those seven miles up hill in pitch blackness in order to spread the word to the apostles that they had encountered the Lord Jesus. They had come into contact with Jesus — their hearts were burning, and now even their feet were burning — and they could not wait even until the morning to share the news.
- We learn so much from this scene. First, we learn about what Jesus wishes to do with us in life. He wants to join our conversation. He wants to help us interpret present events, including and especially our crosses, in the light of what he has revealed. He wants to give light to the questions we have. Are we aware that he is with us on the Road to our home and accompanies us on our journey?
- Second, we learn about the Mass. Many saints and scholars have seen in Jesus’ interaction with the two disciples the outline of the Mass. We start the Mass with the “liturgy of the word,” in which Jesus wants to open us up to the truths of Sacred Scripture, help us to see how all Scripture is fulfilled in him, and make our hearts burn again. The more we hear God’s voice speaking to us through Sacred Scripture, the easier it will be to recognize Jesus in the Eucharist, just as the disciples in Emmaus. The reason for this is simple. The more attentively we hang on what Jesus is telling us in the Gospel and through the other readings that point to him, the easier it is to hear his voice and trust in him as he says to us in the Mass, “This is my body, given for you,” “this is the chalice of my blood… shed for you and for all, for the forgiveness of sins.” The more we read about Jesus’ miracles the easier it is for us to accept the mind-blowing reality of the continuous miracle of the Eucharist. And the more aware that Jesus is speaking to us at Mass as he interprets for us the Scriptures and stays not just with us but in us in the Eucharist, then we will be bursting with the desire to share him with others and run with enthusiasm to share news with others. The disciples of Emmaus couldn’t wait to share with others their encounter with Jesus, what he had revealed to them about Sacred Scripture, what he done for them in celebrating Mass in their home.
- The last application I’ll mention is with regard to those we know who have given up the practice of the faith. We can learn from Jesus. Many today are like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, leaving Jerusalem and all it symbolizes with regard to God and faith, and heading downhill into the darkness away from God’s light. The reasons they are leaving, Pope Francis said in a powerful address to Bishops in Brazil in 2013, contain the seeds for their return. Just like the two disciples were leaving because they thought Jesus’ crucifixion was a contradiction of Messianic prophecies, when the unrecognized Jesus helped them to see that it was rather a confirmation of those prophecies, that’s when their world was flipped right side up. We need to do the same with those who have drifted from the Church, accompanying others, entering into dialogue with them, taking their questions seriously, and trying to bring a proper understanding of revelation to their doubts. If they’re leaving because of the lack of holiness manifested by the sex abuse scandals, we need to help them not on the Judases but on the successors of the other 11 who remain faithful. If they’re leaving because they think the Church hates those with same-sex attractions, we need to help them to see how Jesus and his Church loves them even more with the truth. If they’re leaving because of unanswered prayers to save the life of a loved one, we need to help them to see that God’s will for our loved ones involves a life far greater than even the best of earthly experiences. The reasons for their departure, as we see on Emmaus Road, contain the seeds of their return. Pope Francis asked in Brazil whether we are still a Church capable of warming hearts, of leading people back to Jerusalem. When our hearts are on fire with God’s love in his word and in the Sacraments, we sure are. So let’s let Jesus fully enter into dialogue with us as we ponder the scene of Emmaus, so that he can ignite us and equip us to be his instruments to set the world ablaze.
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