In today’s Gospel, on the road to Emmaus, we see these two disciples who are just trying to make sense of everything that’s happened in the last few hours. Remember, this takes place on Easter Sunday. And just for some context, it’s important for us to think about who these people were. Luke does tell us that one of the disciples is Cleopas, but the other one we’re not certain who it is. Some scholars believe the other disciple was Cleopas’ wife, Mary. We know, from John’s Gospel, that Mary was present at the foot of the Cross with the Blessed Mother. Tradition holds that Cleopas was actually the brother of St. Joseph…so, it’s possible that these disciples were Jesus’ aunt and uncle. They should have recognized Him.

But, like all of us who are human, whenever we are in the midst of something emotional, we’re not always able to think clearly or understand a situation as well as we should initially. It takes a little bit more time for us to process things. That gives us some more insight on how these two aren’t able to recognize Jesus and how they’ve almost dismissed what the women have said about the tomb being empty. Think about it: everything they hoped for didn’t unfold the way they expected, and now they’re left sorting through the disappointment, the uncertainty, the unanswered questions, the grief. As they walk and talk it out, Jesus comes alongside them and joins the conversation. And notice that He didn’t do that in some dramatic way; He didn’t come down with bursts of light or strong gusts of wind. There wasn’t any loud claps of thunder or a voice coming down from Heaven. In reality, the Lord came up to them in a way that almost feels ordinary.

Isn’t that the point? That’s the part of this story that hits closest to home, because it suggests to us that the Lord can be right in the middle of our lives, in the conversations we’re having, in the things we’re trying to work through. And it’s a reminder that it’s okay if we don’t see Him right away, not because He’s not present, but because we’re looking for Him in a different way or expecting something more obvious. What begins to change things for these two disciples is the way He walks with them and opens things up little by little. He begins to connect with them in ways that are familiar. As He does that, something starts happening inside of them. Their hearts start burning, there’s a passion that’s building within them. They’re coming back to life; they’re experiencing their own resurrection.

Everything comes together when they sit down at table, and in that familiar action of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving bread, they finally recognize that it’s Jesus. One of the very first Masses in history is what makes things clear. When they receive the Eucharist, that’s where they see Him most clearly. The same is true for us. We are about to step into that same moment, not as a memory, but as something real. The Lord is going to make Himself present in the same way so that we can encounter Him.

But we have to realize in honesty, that like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, all of us carry things that cloud our ability to see the Lord. It can be the weight of a conversation that didn’t go the way we hoped and is still replaying in our mind, or a decision we are trying to make but can’t seem to find clarity on. It can be the tension in a relationship at home that we don’t quite know how to fix, or the constant pressure of work, bills, schedules, and responsibilities that leave us feeling like there’s never enough space for us breathe. Because of those things, even when the Lord is right beside us, speaking to us, walking with us, we can miss Him and we often do. But what this Gospel makes clear is that He never walks away from us because of that. In fact, He comes closer. He patiently works on opening our hearts, little by little, until we are able to recognize that He has been there all along.

So tonight/this morning, as we come up to receive the Lord in the Eucharist, call to mind what those things are that we are carrying with us and present them to the Lord, surrender them to Him. But also, when we receive Communion, ask Him to reveal Himself to us in a new way, to help us to see how He is walking with us. And let this encounter change us, let it stir the flame of faith back to life within us, let it lead us to a resurrection, and give us the courage to go out and tell others that the Lord has truly been raised.

Photo: Luis Georg Müller. Used under Unsplash license.