We can easily find the locations of important sites related to Jesus in the Holy Land, such as the place of his birth in Bethlehem, the garden of Gethsemane and Mount Calvary in Jerusalem, and the site of Christ’s ascension in Nazareth. However, one place that is unknown is the town of Emmaus in today’s Gospel; its location has been lost to history.
We can relate to the story of the Road to Emmaus. This story speaks to our hearts. It opens up God’s word to us. It reflects the truth of the Mass that we celebrate in our parishes on weekends and throughout the week. Just as the disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, Jesus wants all of us to recognize the way that he is present to us in the Eucharist.
The Road to Emmaus leads us to the altar of the Lord. Every time we recognize Jesus in the moments of our everyday life, every time we feel him accompanying us on our journey, we reflect the spirit of the story of the Road to Emmaus.
Those two disciples explained that they had hope and believe that Jesus would be the one who would redeem the nation of Israel. However, in the events of Christ death and crucifixion, in the mystery of the empty tomb, they felt discouraged and confused. Yet, in their encounter with Jesus, in Jesus’ words and actions, they realized that their Lord Jesus had indeed risen. As St Peter acclaims in the Acts of the Apostles today:
The Road to Emmaus is not just a story from the past. The reality of Christ risen and alive in a reality of our present as well. A reality of our Church. Christ is indeed alive in our midst.
We talk about our journey of faith as disciples of Christ. All of us are on that journey in one way or another. Jesus and his disciples were always journey toward the holy city of Jerusalem. Today, these two disciples on the Road to Emmaus are traveling in the wrong direction.
They have given up and turned their backs on Jerusalem and all that has happened. As they talk about what happened, and the stranger joins them and explains the Scriptures to them, in retrospect they recognise that it was Jesus accompanying them all the time.
In my homilies, I often speak about our journey of faith. It is important for us to think of our life here on earth as a journey of faith, to view every moment and every day as steps on our journey. The concept of journey is important for us to be able to understand the story of the Road to Emmaus. The disciples are undertaking a journey, but rather than going to Jerusalem, they are fleeing in free and going in the opposite direction. They have turned their backs of Jerusalem and on all that happened there. But as Jesus joins them in the midst of their journey, concealing his true identity, they later realize that they indeed sense his identity, that their hearts were burning within them as he spoke to them on the way and as he opened up the Scriptures to them. The recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread during their meal together, but then Jesus disappears from their sight. Though Jesus has risen, the reality of his resurrection is a different reality. After the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus recognize Jesus, they realize that they had made a mistake by fleeing, and they go back to Jerusalem. As the disciples gather together, they share their experiences with the resurrected Lord, trying to make sense of this new reality and awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we have similar experiences on our own journey of faith. Perhaps there are times when realize that Lord had been accompanying us when we look back, even in our darkest and most challenging moments, even though we did not realize it at the time. Perhaps when we get together in the company of believers, we are reaffirmed in our faith as well, just as that original group of disciples were reaffirmed in their faith as they gathered together in Jerusalem. In gathering with other believes, we are can continue in boldness and trust in our journey of faith through life.
