3rd Sunday of Easter Year A - 23/4/2023 - Gospel: Lk 24: 13-35
Being For Others
The spoken Easter's message is brief and clear: 'Peace be with you;' or 'Happy are those who have not seen and believe', or 'Go out to the whole world and baptize people in Jesus' name'. Other Easter messages are non-verbal, and each of them has a message that we can identify ourselves with that person. In his very first appearance, Jesus identified himself as a gardener. This represents all peasants, and blue-collar workers. His second appearance took the form of a traveller. Jesus revealed himself as a single, lonely person, who is on a journey. Jesus made claim to have no place to lay his head in his public ministry. The risen Jesus made claim to have no place on earth to be his true home. His true home was with his Father and also ours. Jesus was on the move, and so were his disciples. They move for a purpose. For Jesus, He travelled to gather the scattered disciples; for the apostles, they travelled to share with joy the Good News message to others, to fulfil their call to be fishers of men. Jesus' message to Mary Magdalene was, 'Go to Galilee and tell my disciples that I will meet them there'. He walked alongside the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Each one of us knows that life is a journey toward its destination. For us, Christians, our destination is God's kingdom, our eternal life. His third appearance happened at the beach. This appeals to the call when Jesus first called his disciples. He called them to be 'fishers of men Mt 4,19'. This also concludes the first calling by sending them to the world, 'Go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation'. Mk 16,16.
The Risen One was recognized as 'At the breaking of bread'. It is not simply reminding the apostles of the Last Supper, and the Eucharist, but also is the calling to share the resources we have with others, especially our daily food. Sharing our resources daily is the sacrifice we make to follow Jesus.
Christ meets the apostles on the road. He shared their tiredness, their thirst walking under the hot sun, and hungry and fatigue. Jesus then explained the Scriptures to them, making the connection between the prophecy about himself and the reality, the Passion he went through. This sharing reveals what happened to him was not an accident but was a part of God's design to save mankind.
On the road, Cleopas told the traveller that he failed to understand what was happening in the world. Lk 24,18. It turned out; it was not the traveller, but Cleopas himself who failed to understand the Scriptures, and the necessary suffering that Christ must supper before going into his glory. Under certain circumstances, experiencing the force of darkness in our lives and in the world, we wonder something like, 'Does God know the miserable state we are having?'; when it happens; we can identify ourselves with Cleopas' feelings. He revealed not his frustration or anger but rather the honesty, sadness, and hopelessness deep in his heart. The breaking of bread in the evening opened the pair's eyes and changed their hearts. Their heavy hearts were on fire again, and eternal strength wound up in them so much that gave the pair energy to walk overnight returning to Jerusalem, where they began the journey. Before they could tell their story, Peter acted as the group leader and testified something like, we have already seen the risen Lord. The Emmaus' story was on Sunday. It included the explanation of the Scriptures and the breaking of bread. They are parts of the Eucharistic celebration nowadays. The apostles and the women came to believe in Jesus because they met him. It implies that their faith came not from their own effort, but rather the divine revelation. We believe in Jesus, not because of our own knowledge about God, but rather because God reveals himself to our hearts.
The Risen One was recognized as 'At the breaking of bread'. It is not simply reminding the apostles of the Last Supper, and the Eucharist, but also is the calling to share the resources we have with others, especially our daily food. Sharing our resources daily is the sacrifice we make to follow Jesus.
Christ meets the apostles on the road. He shared their tiredness, their thirst walking under the hot sun, and hungry and fatigue. Jesus then explained the Scriptures to them, making the connection between the prophecy about himself and the reality, the Passion he went through. This sharing reveals what happened to him was not an accident but was a part of God's design to save mankind.
On the road, Cleopas told the traveller that he failed to understand what was happening in the world. Lk 24,18. It turned out; it was not the traveller, but Cleopas himself who failed to understand the Scriptures, and the necessary suffering that Christ must supper before going into his glory. Under certain circumstances, experiencing the force of darkness in our lives and in the world, we wonder something like, 'Does God know the miserable state we are having?'; when it happens; we can identify ourselves with Cleopas' feelings. He revealed not his frustration or anger but rather the honesty, sadness, and hopelessness deep in his heart. The breaking of bread in the evening opened the pair's eyes and changed their hearts. Their heavy hearts were on fire again, and eternal strength wound up in them so much that gave the pair energy to walk overnight returning to Jerusalem, where they began the journey. Before they could tell their story, Peter acted as the group leader and testified something like, we have already seen the risen Lord. The Emmaus' story was on Sunday. It included the explanation of the Scriptures and the breaking of bread. They are parts of the Eucharistic celebration nowadays. The apostles and the women came to believe in Jesus because they met him. It implies that their faith came not from their own effort, but rather the divine revelation. We believe in Jesus, not because of our own knowledge about God, but rather because God reveals himself to our hearts.
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
