Sunday Reflection - 3rd Sunday of Easter

This Gospel text always brings a smile to my face. I am not sure if it is because I so enjoy reading about this episode in the resurrected life of Jesus or because it brings back so many fond memories of my days in the Seminary. Back in the 1950s this Gospel text was read on Tuesday of Easter Week, and all of us seminarians were told to go on an “Emmaus Walk” that day – two by two – and share with one another the meaning of Easter. I know we all went on a walk (it was usually a lovely spring day in Chicago by that time) and we all enjoyed our day “out”, but I am not sure we always had a serious discussion about the meaning of Easter. But we did enjoy our time together.

There are so many things that I find particularly attractive about this passage. First of all, the name of only one person is given – Cleopas – and today most Scripture scholars agree that the other person was probably his wife. It is nice to know that married couples followed Jesus and became His disciples.

Then two days after the crucifixion they were leaving Jerusalem, separating themselves from the community of the other disciples. They were discouraged. They had hoped for so much from Jesus. And now all their hopes were dashed. That Easter morning when they left to go back home to Emmaus the disciples could not yet offer them any hope for the future. And so they left. Unfortunately I have found that their action is imitated by so many others – because of a disappointment they leave the Seminary, they leave the Church, they leave their family, etc. It is such a human response to disappointment. I have met many people who stopped going to Church (among them some of my nephews and nieces) who had a disappointing experience with a priest and so left the Community.

But on their way home they met a stranger. When he asked why they were so sad, they shared their story of the hopes that they had had and the hopes that were dashed by the crucifixion. When they were leaving Jerusalem they heard rumours that Jesus had risen, but they did not believe it. It is so important for us to share our hopes and disappointments with others, sometimes even with strangers. As a member of Alcoholics Anonymous I know the value of people sharing their stories. Just the sharing of our pain and disappointment is already the beginning of a healing.

For the last forty years I have been hosting a Gathering of Returned Missionaries once a month. Returned Missionaries come back with many stories to tell, but few people have the time to listen to their stories. There is often a lot of pain and disappointment connected with their stories – pain and disappointment they are reluctant to share with others who might not understand. When I was in London a Sister who had spent over twenty years in Egypt came back home because she was suffering from cancer. She came to one of our Gatherings, and the group let her speak for the full two hours we were together. On her deathbed she said to her Superior: Be sure to thank the Returned Missionaries for giving me a chance to tell my story.

Finally when they arrived in Emmaus, their home, they invited Jesus to have a meal with them. They extended hospitality to this stranger. And because of this they recognized who He was and began to understand all that He had been telling them about the reason for His sufferings and death. In that moment of recognition their pain and disappointment was healed. It so often happens that people are healed when they forget themselves and offer hospitality to the stranger.

They then rush back to the community in Jerusalem to share the wonderful experience they had of the risen Jesus. There they discover that other disciples also had a similar experience. They now strengthen one another’s faith and hope and are open to waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. We need to hear the stories of faith and hope of others to encourage us in our faith. And that is why we need our Christian Community.