Emmaus Sunday

by Deacon Bill Schneider  |  04/20/2023  |  Images of Faith

It is true. Only those who have lived with great expectations can experience great disappointment. Only those who have worked hard to win can truly feel the agony of defeat. Only those who hope for some great promise can know what it means to experience bitter disillusionment.

There is something special about the story of those two disciples on their way to Emmaus. Maybe it is because that story is really our story, too. We are on our way. We have our hopes and dreams for a better world, a better and happier life. We are always searching and looking for something more in life. We struggle through dark and discouraging times and we too need our faith, our hope and love made new. Like those two on the road, we need to recognize and know that the Lord is in our midst. That is what this Easter story is all about.

The story begins with the tragic truth that Jesus is dead. It seemed like a bad dream, but now it had to be faced as reality. All their hopes and dreams, all they longed for was invested in Him and now all is lost. It is a story of grief, frustration and despair. But that is all in the past, and they were living in the past. Keep in mind how the story ends. That very evening, it is all changed. All their sadness and weariness are changed into joy, excitement and renewed hope. They just had to return to Jerusalem. The others must know that they have seen the Lord. The good news is so good that it could not wait until morning. We have seen the Lord, they told Peter. And Peter responded: Yes, so have we!

These Easter stories invite us to reflect on the response of the disciples to the death and resurrection of the Lord. We hear their stories over and over again to understand their struggle to recognize the Risen Lord in their midst, and how they went about telling others the good news. These stories are repeated to help us come to an awareness, a renewed faith that the Lord is alive and well; that we can know Him in the breaking of the bread. Awareness is really grace, a free gift from God. Like those disciples on the road who met the Lord, we find the courage and strength, the faith necessary to manage the trials and disappointments, the heartaches and sadness that life has to offer. We finally learn to let go and let God be God for us. Once we have known the Risen Lord in our midst, we cannot help but bring Him to others.

As his faithful followers, we carry with us the marks of the Lord’s Risen life. Through our own pain and suffering, we are able to touch the lives of others by our compassion and love. Through our experiences of darkness and doubt, we offer hope to others who struggle for light. By our awareness of the Lord in our lives, we can reach out to comfort and console those who are grieving, those who are depressed and filled with sorrows, those who find life meaningless. By our own death to selfishness and sin, we bring new life to others. What a challenge you and I are faced with every day!

The Easter story is not about a dead body coming back to life. It is about the power of God to overcome all death, all sadness, all suffering and all pain. It is about God’s power to raise Jesus, and in Him, all of us. It is about Jesus risen in our hearts, walking with us on the way as we journey to the Father. It is about the Lord of Life living through us, with us and in us, such as we are, with all of our foolishness, humanness and sin. The message of Easter is that life conquers death and only God can do that. You and I are called to be people of faith. We are to live this new risen life each day.

God bless!

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