Bless our God who walks with us!

3RD SUNDAY OF EASTER

[ Luke 24: 13-35 ]

   On the journey to Emmaus.

At some points of our journey of life and journey of faith, we experience doubt(s) at various levels and different degrees: we have doubt about our own self, doubt about our faith, and even doubt about God! Yes, even the staunchest believer and the most faithful follower of Jesus can experience crisis of faith.

Doubt (Latin: dubium) is the hesitation and indecision of mind between belief and disbelief. We want to believe, yet we STRUGGLE to believe. We want to believe, yet we are SLOW to believe.

All was lost, all hope was crushed, all sense of the future was dashed, all turned silent, gloomy and dark – right after the death of Jesus. And the apostles had gone into hiding for fear of the Jews. The two disciples had every reason to feel disappointed, despaired, disillusioned and defeated: Jesus had ‘failed’ them; and the apostles (the Church) too had ‘failed’ them.

Are we not like the two disciples? Are we not them?

We once believed, but now we have doubt. We were once close to Jesus and His apostolic Church, but now we have faltered, drifted apart and fallen away.

Like it or not, we are the ‘two of Emmaus’ who do not understand; we are even afraid because we do not want problems, and we distance ourselves from Jerusalem: we are afraid… We are the ‘two of Emmaus’, with many doubts, many sins, and often we are cowards and want to distance ourselves from the Cross, from trials. [cf. Pope Francis, Morning Meditation, 2 May 2017]

   Yet, the risen Lord walks with us.

Luke the Evangelist beautifully recalls [Lk 24: 15], “Jesus Himself came up and walked by their side…” Such is our magnanimous God: slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love [Ps 103: 8]!

Even when we are disappointed, despaired, disillusioned and defeated… even when we are slow and afraid, doubtful and sinful… even when we are faltering and falling away… even when we are running away from Him and His Church… the risen Lord draws near and walks with us!

The Psalmist [Ps 139: 8-10] echoes this,

   “I ascend to heaven, You are there;

      if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

   If I take the wings of the morning

      and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

   even there Your hand shall lead me,

      and Your right hand shall hold me fast.”

How wonderful! How marvellous! We are not alone on this journey of life. We do not walk alone. The Lord is indeed alive: He walks with us; He walks beside us! The risen Lord seeks to walk with us, to illuminate the journey of our life, to teach us and to give us hope.

   The risen Lord CONTINUES to speak to us.

   ‘Your Word is a lamp to my feet

      and a light to my path.’ [Ps 119: 105]

The risen Lord CONTINUES to speak to us for the Word of God is alive and active [Heb 4: 12]. The Word of God must not remain as mute words or dead texts. We must allow God’s Word to infuse us, imbue us and inspire us – by active and attentive listening – both in the celebration of the liturgy and in our personal prayer and reflection. If we allow Him, Jesus who walks with us will open our minds to understand the Scriptures and set our hearts on fire.

   The risen Lord CONTINUES to feed us.

The journey to Emmaus ended with a meal: He took the bread and said the blessing; then He broke it and handed it to them [Lk 24: 30]. This scene clearly demonstrates the UNBREAKABLE BOND between the Sacred Scripture and the Holy Eucharist. The Word of God leads us to the Holy Eucharist! Yes, it was ONLY at the Breaking of the Bread that the disciples’ eyes were opened and they recognised the Lord [cf. Lk 24: 31].

To quote Fr Michael Chua (24 Apr 2020), “… this dialogue would not be the high point of the story. All this merely leads to the climax which takes place at the end of the story – the Breaking of Bread. The Word of God leads to the Sacrament of God. We say that the Scriptures are light for our path, and that path leads to the Eucharist.”

At every celebration of the Holy Mass, it is truly Jesus who explains the Scriptures to us and feeds us with His Body and His Blood.

   The return journey.

The Gospel narrative begins with the journey of fleeing Jerusalem but ends with the return journey to Jerusalem. The encounter of the risen Lord in the Word and in the Eucharist opened the minds, the hearts and the eyes of the two disciples.

It was already dark, the two disciples were already exhausted after a whole-day journey, but they did not wait for Jesus to appear again, they did not wait to be instructed, they did not linger on, and they did not procrastinate… Instead, the two of them set out INSTANTLY – at that very moment – and returned to Jerusalem to announce the great news to the apostles. [cf. Lk 24: 33-35]

Yes, the Lord is alive: He walks with us, He speaks to us, and He feeds us. Let us set out to proclaim the risen Lord now, not tomorrow!

Let our fervent prayer be:

   “Walk with us, O Lord Jesus Christ,

   open our minds to know You,

   open our hearts to love You,

   and open our eyes to see You.”

Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.