Homily Easter 3A: A journey from confusion to faith, from darkness to light

 

Homily for 3^rd Sunday of Easter Year A 2023

Introduction

You probably know the saying: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”  Today’s gospel is literally a story about a journey, a journey of two disciples going to Emmaus.  Let us join them on this journey, which is indeed a journey of the spiritual life, from darkness to light, from confusion to truth.

Scripture and Theology

The story begins by telling us: “Two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus.”  But why are they going in the wrong direction, away from Jerusalem?  Jerusalem is where all the action is.  Yet they are leaving it, maybe even running away from Jerusalem!

Does this not happen us to too?  When we leave the Lord, when we run away from the Lord and run towards lesser goods. Do you know people who have left the Church when something terrible happens?  Perhaps you too also once left the Church, your Jerusalem, and instead went elsewhere to your Emmaus?

The good news is that Risen Lord then approached them.  They are downcast! They are confused!  They do not know what to believe!  He joins them, “but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him” perhaps because of their desolation.

How often Our Blessed Lord meets us when we are drifting into despair and sin.  And we too don’t often recognize him immediately.

Fortunately, the Lord does for us what he did for these two disciples.  He met them where they were, in their disturbed condition, simply asking them: "What are you discussing as you walk along?"  He does not jump in guns blazing, but simply wants to find out in what spiritual state they are.  And although they are confused, they not totally without hope. They describe to him the events that have just happened very accurately, much like we profess them in the Creed.

·       That Jesus the Nazarene was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,

·       That the chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him.

·       That on the third day some women from the group astounded them with the news that he was alive, something confirmed by other disciples.

They really seem to know their stuff. It is just that since they have not seen him themselves, they are still doubtful, still confused.

Is this not the same state in which we often find ourselves?  Often, it is not because we completely do not know the Lord that we are down in the dumps, but because there are gaps in our knowledge, we are somewhat confused.

Like any good minister, the Lord transitions from meeting them where they are, to moving them further on the journey of faith.  He chides them: "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!” Then he helps them to understand the events of the previous few days in the light of Scripture.  He goes back to the very beginning of the Old Testament, that is, to the writings of Moses and to the writings of the Prophets, and using those passages shows them that all those things that happened to Jesus were foreseen.  But more importantly when seen through the light of Scripture, these events make sense.  He shows them that the Messiah was to come, not in power, but in suffering and sacrifice, just as the Scriptures had promised.  They are slowly beginning to see the light.

How often do we turn to the Scriptures when we are lost? Do we realize that like these two disciples, we can find the answers to our questions in the Word of God? We simply need to open our eyes to see what the Lord has already revealed to us.

When the disciples arrive at their destination, they invite Jesus into their home.  What they do is nothing out of the ordinary for the time; with the lack of quick transportation, highways and highway motels, it was not uncommon for people to host total strangers and stranded travellers.  In this case, how could they leave stranded such a guest, who had just explained the Scriptures to them so well! They probably figured that he would not turn around at night and slit their throats.  

We too, when we are confused, must invite Jesus into our home. Only then will he continue to heal us, and bring us out of our confusion and sin.  For these two disciples, they were in for a great surprise.  Even though their actual journey had come to an end, the spiritual journey was still continuing.

We read in the gospel that “while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.”  You may recall that these are the very four actions Jesus had performed on two previous occasions:

·        When he fed the five thousand people, he also took the bread and fishes, said the blessing, broke them and then gave them to the crowds.

·        At the Last Supper, he also took the bread and gave thanks, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: “Take and eat.  This is my body.”

Then the story tells us: “With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.”  The Lord has thus brought them to light, first through the Scriptures and now through the Breaking of Bread, the Eucharist.  That is why they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?" We too find our answers in the Word and the Sacrament, the two parts of the Mass.

What next?  The gospel passage told us: “So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem [and] the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.” Imagine that!  They went to Jerusalem to share the Good News that the Lord is risen from dead.  Even though it was nightfall, even though they were getting ready for bed, they had to go.  For after arriving at the end of the journey, after encountering the Lord, they must go and share the good news with others; they cannot keep it to themselves.

Christian Life

My friends, don’t we also make this journey, this spiritual journey to Emmaus, when tragedy hits us, when disappointment visits us?

·        It could be the disappointment that a boyfriend or girlfriend, a fiancé or fiancée, a husband or wife turns out not to be what we thought they were.

·        Our disappointment might come from our job, our career, our future prospects; things don’t turn out to be what we thought they would be.

·        But we are at our worst, when our disappointment is spiritual in nature, when it has to do with our faith, our relationship with God.

Fortunately, the Lord does not live us without help.  Like the disciples, he often restores our hope, especially through the Word of God in the readings of the Mass, the responsorial psalm, the gospel acclamation, the gospel and the homily.  He also restores our hope in the liturgy of the Eucharist, and in the other sacraments, especially the sacrament of confession.  What do we do next?

Conclusion

We too, after hearing the Word of God and receiving his Body and Blood at Mass, must set out at once and share what we received.  That is what the dismissal by the deacon at the end of Mass, in any one of its four forms tells us:

·        Go in peace.

·        or Go forth, the Mass is ended.

·        or Go and announce the gospel or the Lord.

·        Or my favourite: "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life."