Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 24,13-35
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.
Then 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?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them
who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
The road to Emmaus
1) Two of the disciples: The church reminds us that we are not alone. Jesus always reminds us to be united, to go out two by two, to form a community and not to go off on our own. That is where Christian work begins, making community, making family. Today we have to get our act together because a new phase is appearing, the phase of “solidarity”. It is now the “solidarity pandemic”, because many are beginning to feel not physical respiratory asphyxia, but rather economic or family respiratory asphyxia. Today, as a society and as Christians, we must begin to reach out to so many who need you and me, not in an economic sense, I am referring to accompanying them with your ear to listen, your time, your good vibes, good spirit or enthusiasm. Today let us generate solidarity. Let us show others that on this road, no one is walking alone. That we, Christians accompany each other, care for each other, accept each other, and guide each other on this journey.
2) They didn’t recognize Him: this is the other phase. This phase of feeling tired and exhausted, where you don’t see God and you question the reason for so many deaths and so much suffering, pain and lockdown. Today it is your job and mine to recognize Jesus and to know that He is there. Even if we do not see Him, do not feel Him or understand, He is here.
3) Our heart is on fire: today we are Christians who are alive in the battle before a new struggle, before a new challenge. We go out to put our hearts on the line because God is with us. We come to put our hearts into life and we trust in a different world. Like the early Christians who continued to struggle in the face of an empire that killed them due to their beliefs. Like the Christians who faced corruption in the Middle Ages, like those Christians who defended the faith during the French Revolution, like Christians who give their lives in silence for a better society. You and I want to remind this world that ta different world can exist.
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And always remember, Heaven is our goal!
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God Bless You!
