23 April 2025 - Wednesday of the Octave of Easter
Homily
The Evangelist Luke tells us of three apparitions of Jesus on Easter Day: 1) that to the women, who were the first to have the courage to come to the tomb early in the morning; 2) that to the two disciples who had decided to return to their village and their occupations; 3) that to the Twelve who were still paralysed by fear in the place where they had locked themselves away. It is the second of these apparitions that we have in our text today.
The encounter with the two disciples of Emmaus has inspired several artists over the centuries. But I believe that most of the known paintings depict Christ at table with the two disciples in the dining room of the hotel, rather than on the road. Personally, I have always been fascinated above all by their encounter on the road.
In reality, although what Luke describes certainly has a historical basis, his interest is not in describing a particular event in detail. It doesn't take much thought or analysis to realise that what Luke is describing in this passage is the life of the early Christian community going about their ordinary business after the death and resurrection of Jesus, but continuing to feel his presence: 1) through the sharing of the Word and catechesis, 2) through the breaking of bread and 3) through the profession of faith. Luke is not recounting a miracle of power here, but rather an event that gladdens the spirit and warms the heart.
Let us try for a moment to imagine how the Christian community (represented here by the two disciples) felt after Jesus' death. Jesus' life had been very disconcerting for them. He had appeared as a young prophet with all the signs of the Messiah; he had spoken like no one else, he had gone about doing good and performing miracles; but all this had lasted only a short time. He had been put to death. A sentence in the account expresses their disappointment well: ’We thought it was him...’
In our lives, each of us has certainly had moments when we have had a vivid experience of the presence of Christ. The absolute certainty of this presence has given us the strength to commit ourselves, as Christians, as responsible members of the Church, as nuns or monks. And then there have probably been other moments when nothing seemed clear or certain anymore. Didn't we feel like saying at that moment: ‘We thought it was him...’? We thought we were doing his will, we thought he would be with us forever. We expected to experience his presence constantly. And now it's the third day, the third month, the third year... And if someone asks us why we are so sad, we may want to reply: ‘You are the only one here who does not know that everything is going wrong... in the Church, in the world, in my community, in my life’...
Today's Gospel reminds us of the importance of remembrance, which is the fundamental Christian attitude (‘Do this in memory of me...’). It reminds us that every time, in a moment of doubt and trial, we have the courage to say: ‘I thought it was Him’... each time, He is there, walking beside us on the road, warming our hearts, opening our eyes to the understanding of the Scriptures - not only the Bible, but also the Scriptures of our existence - and leading us to the breaking of bread with our brothers and sisters, leading us to recognise Him in this sharing.
We are Jesus' disciples... We are all on the road to Emmaus. We tell each other what happened... or didn't happen. Because we have the courage to do this, in his memory, he is there on the road, walking by our side. He is one of us; he is each of us. He is what each of us must be for the other... ‘Are not our hearts burning within us?’
Armand Veilleux