Focusing the Gospel

Key words and phrases: conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near, Stay with us, their eyes were opened, hearts burning, opened the Scriptures, made known to them in the breaking of bread

To the point: On our own we cannot grasp the mystery of the resurrection. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were “conversing and debating”; they could recount the facts but could not believe the mystery. Yet they greatly desired to move from disappointment and unbelief to hearts burning with life and belief—they invited Jesus to stay the night with them. Our own participation in Word and sacrament must give rise to the same desire in us: to seek Life by journeying deeper into the mystery.

… to Second Reading: Word and “breaking of bread” brought the disciples on the road to Emmaus to belief that Jesus had risen. The revelation of Jesus’ resurrection through Word and sacrament challenges us to address our “futile conduct” and do the good “works” that give witness to our coming to belief, faith, and trust in God’s power to save.

… to experience: An encounter with any kind of mystery always leaves us “conversing and debating.” The nature of mystery is that it cannot be known through facts alone, but in “the beyond” that tantalizes us, draws us, and intrigues us. How much more so with the mystery of risen Life!