Homily for Third Sunday of Easter
In these Sundays immediately after Easter, the gospel invariably recounts some appearance or other of Jesus to his followers after the resurrection. These appearances of Jesus have no consistency. In some cases, the disciples recognise Jesus at once. In other instances, he is confused with someone else. Mary of Magdala mistook him for the gardener. In last Sunday's gospel we saw where most of those present recognised him immediately, but Thomas had no idea who it was. In other cases, he prepares breakfast for the disciples out fishing; then he waits on them In today's reading, Jesus spends the whole day in the company of two disciples; they engage in discussion and banter as they walk along the road; but yet they fail to recognise him.
The nature of such appearances and their very variety is saying this to us: Jesus is now available to you in an infinite variety of ways. He is present to us at every point of his universe. He is present with us, even when we ourselves are unaware of his presence.
Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that it is our task, it is the mission of the Church, is to make God present in our world. This is surely wrong, since God's presence in our world predates us, and indeed predates the Church itself. Rather it is our mission to find God in the world and to call mankind's attention to that presence. We do not make him present; we seek him out in our own surroundings; we call attention to his presence.
The great Easter encounter is of course the subject of today’s gospel, a story exclusive to Luke: the stranger joins the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. As with all grieving people, the two disciples can talk of nothing but their dead friend. They pore over his life incessantly, using memories as stepping stones. Of course like everyone in mourning, they are surprised that the world has not stopped. They are amazed that out there, life continues as normal. "What matters have you been discussing as you walked along?" the stranger asks. They are taken aback. What planet has this fellow been on? They rebuke him..."Well you must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who is ignorant of these happenings..."
By the journey's end, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Jesus is playing them like any good fisherman. And he plays them skillfully towards the solid bank of recognition. He teases them towards belief, coaxing them to recognise their blind spot. It is a wonderful story teasingly told. According to that story, the three great pointers to God's abiding presence in our world are, firstly, the scriptures and secondly, the company of fellow-travellers, and, three, 'the breaking of bread'. As the disciples discovered with hindsight, Jesus is present with us as we talk about him and listen to stories about him. Their false expectations of him prevented recognition. They had hoped that he was to one to set Israel free. Perhaps we fall into a similar trap. We look for him in full churches or in full novitiates and full seminaries. Or, a more common mistake, we view empty seminaries and empty convents as evidence of his absence from the world. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were looking for a powerful political leader, 'the one who would set Israel free'. Jesus was walking with them as a fellow pilgrim. With such false expectations, it is no wonder that they did not recognise him. Then, when recognition does come, he disappears. The bread is now his body. Like his body, it must be broken before it is given.
Again, the purpose of the Eucharist is not to make God present in the world. It is to remind us that God is already present in the world, and in our lives. We come to the Eucharist to be reminded that our world is God-bearing. In the Eucharist, this recognition dawns. Ever since the resurrection God is available to us under an infinite variety of disguises. But we have to be attuned to this; our minds and hearts must be prepared properly or else we will not recognise him. The Emmaus story is our pattern: he is present with us without our knowing it; if we listen to the scriptures and talk to our fellow travellers, recognition will dawn. Then we go back to wherever our Jerusalem may be and tell our brothers and sisters of what has happened on the road. He is indeed risen and we recognised him in the breaking of the bread!