Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk
along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him
in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the
things that have taken place there in these days? And he replied to them, “What
sort of things? They said to him, The things that happened to Jesus the
Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the
people how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of
death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem
Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb
early in the morning and did not find his Body; they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women
had described, but him they did not see.
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that
the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Then beginning
with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in
all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were
going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him,
“Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over. So he went
in to stay with them. 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 truly
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.
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Reflection:
Do you know that the Lord Jesus is always walking with
you during the highest and more so in the lowest episodes of your life?
In the gospel, while Cleopas and the other disciple
were going to Emmaus, the risen Christ suddenly walked with them and conversed
with them. They had no inkling that it was already the risen Christ who was
with them. Why? This is for the reason that their focus was not on the risen
Christ but on the Christ who died on the cross.
When they reached Emmaus it was already night time so
they invited Jesus to stay in their house. And while they were at a table Jesus
took bread broke it said the blessings and shared it with the two of them. They
immediately recognized that it was the risen Jesus who was with them. Because
Jesus did the same sacred gesture before them and the apostles during the last
supper in the upper room (Luke 22:19-20).
Cleopas and the other disciple are not alone in this
predicament of not immediately recognizing the presence of Jesus in their
midst. For we too are often guilty of not recognizing that Jesus is always
walking with us. And the reason is we are always busy with the
affairs of this world, we are busy on how we would survive life’s daily grind.
But all that we do for this world will count for
nothing someday if we have no personal relationship with Jesus. And if we don’t
have a personal awareness of Jesus abiding presence in our lives.
God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him.
So that we would always have an awareness that He is always with us, walking
with us even during the lowest episodes of our journey in this world. - Marino
J. Dasmarinas
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