Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 - 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?" 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 ssssstruly 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. [Luke]
The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus and their encounter with the Risen Lord is one of genuine human warmth and theological depth! The prominent theme of the Gospel According to Luke of promise/fulfillment shows up in the stranger's preaching and the remembrance of this is shown in the breaking of the bread! The disappointment and disillusionment of the two disciples is replaced with joy and excitement. We also learn that the Risen Lord appeared to many others besides Simon and the women who went to the tomb! (St. Paul is a prominent example. cf. 1 Cor. 15:1-11).
The theologian, John Shea, once characterized the celebration of the Eucharist as: "Gather the people, tell the story, break the bread." This describes what we do now in continuation of what the evangelist Luke has given to us in the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. When we gather, we invite the Lord to be in our midst. We hear the story in the scriptures and have them "opened" for us in the preaching (hopefully) and then recognizing the physical presence of the Lord in the breaking of the bread. This is what it means to be "church!" AMEN
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