Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 4, 2014 - 3rd Sunday of Easter - A
[Acts 2:14, 22-33; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35]Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is a charmer and a challenge! On the charm level it is the emotional roller coaster from disappointment and grief to puzzlement and then to elation which the two disciples experience. There is the dramatic device of Jesus "playing dumb" about the events surrounding his death and resurrection and the imperfect understanding of the disciples about those events. There is the "opening of their minds to the scriptures" and the recognition of Jesus in the breaking of bread. And finally there is the return to Jerusalem and proclamation by the two disciples. The story can easily "pull us in" and make us a part of the action.
The challenge is to not only see ourselves in this story but to see it as our story NOW. What do we know of Jesus the Nazarene? We have been baptized into his life, death and resurrection, as St. Paul tells us. [Romans 6:3-4] and profess our faith in him. When we attend the Eucharist, are our minds open to the scriptures? Do we recognize him in the breaking of the bread? Do we proclaim this to the world? What happened to those two disciples is not meant to be ancient history but present experience. The "every-year-ness" of this story can dull us to its importance for us. If we come to it with a fresh mind and heart, perhaps we can recover some of the feeling and excitement and amazement that will enable us to proclaim: THE LORD IS RISEN! ALLELUIA! Amen.