Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - Octave of Easter - Wed
[Acts 3:1-10 and Luke 24:13-35]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?" [Luke]
The disciples on the road to Emmaus were people of faith, but that faith was centered just on the personal experience they had had of Jesus and the hopes and expectations connected with "redeeming Israel." They knew of the resurrection but nothing more than the empty tomb. In short, they had not put together the entirety of scripture or the incredible truth that Jesus was not a "missing body" but a living Lord! It is the process of putting together these things that Jesus begins with them and then completes it in the breaking of the bread.
The bishops of the USA, in a recent document on preaching the Sunday homily, point out that one of the principal aims of preaching should be to "open the Scriptures" to the people and enable them to see the connection between the Word of God and the Bread of Life! These are one and the same thing. Christ is truly present in both.
From what I hear from folks in the pew, this experience is not taking place because the Catholic tradition in preaching has lagged way behind all the ceremony and pomp, and the the emphasis tended toward "the consecration" and not toward knowing the scriptures. Many of the responses I get to my online preaching speak in terms of "being fed." I hope my readers can bring what they read here to their celebration of the Eucharist. I also hope they can urge their pastors to read the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus and open their minds to the scriptures - the Word of life - so that the Bread of Life can have its true meaning! AMEN