History is not merely a chronicle of events that took place. It is not simply a record of happenings. Instead, history is more a record of salvation if only we look for it. Today’s Gospel is taken from Luke and it details the story of two disappointed disciples of Jesus who decided to call it quits and made the decision to abandon Jerusalem.
Jesus came up to them and invited them to relook at history from the perspective of salvation and to consider what they had gone through, not as a loss but to view it as how God has been at work. They had experienced what they thought to be the failure of the person of Jesus but in light of Sacred Scripture, Jesus pointed out that events happened because God had permitted them and what was supposedly a massive failure was not Christ’s death but His victory. With God there are no accidents.
One of the greatest place to experience God’s presence to us is through the Eucharist. Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?
Often we can be overwhelmed by disappointments. Somehow crippled by our materialistic vision of life we are incapable of taking a long-term view of life. A proper long-term view of life must include the Resurrection. Thus the walk to Emmaus became an occasion for Christ to open their minds beyond the disappointment of the present. He not only opened their minds but He accompanied them corporeally.
Oh how nice if Jesus were to accompany us, I hear some said. Especially when we endure disasters, encounter defeats and experience disappointments in life. The fact is, He does. Today is the clearest proof of what He does best. He is with us for He is the Emmanuel. The context for His presence is the Eucharist.
To appreciate how He is present to us, we take a look at dancing. What is it that most attracts us? Not the formless kind in which hands and feet are going everywhere, right? What most fascinates us is when a dancer has coordinated movement that flows with the music. There is rhythm. The same can be said of the Eucharist. It is akin to a dance in which we are drawn into it by the rhythmic movement of the liturgy. But sadly, we generally do not make the connexion between the liturgy and Christ’s Real Presence.
In other words, we generally prefer a formless spontaneity in which what is central to our experience are the palpable emotions or maybe the intellectual coherence. If you read the Gospel passage today, you might not discern that it is actually a description of the Eucharist that we celebrate each time.
Our attention may be drawn towards the two disciples’ disappointment and the consequent movement away from Jerusalem. But if you view it from the perspective of the Eucharist, you might grasp how closely Christ is with us in our experiences most especially when we encounter disappointments.
While He was at table with them, He took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to them broadly describes the Liturgy of the Eucharist when we celebrate Mass. The four verbs of taking, saying, breaking and giving correspond to the offertory, the Anaphora, the breaking at the Agnus Dei and the reception of Holy Communion. Just as soon as Jesus broke and gave them the bread, He disappeared and their response was “Did not our hearts burn within us, as He spoke to us on the road and explain the Scripture to us”.
The burning hearts belong to the part of the Mass called the Liturgy of the Word, where we hear God speaking to us through Sacred Scripture and the Homily. If the entire episode of the Disciples fleeing Jerusalem on account of their disappointment basically traces our liturgical steps, it gives pause for us to consider that the Eucharist is where Christ journeys with us especially in our darkest moments. He fulfils the description of Emmanuel, God with us, most radically in the Eucharist.
Often we hear this repeated that “to love God and not to love one’s neighbour is a dereliction of one’s love”. The reality is that the love of one’s neighbour is not necessarily a proof that one has relationship with God. A good communist is theoretically a philanthropist meaning that he or she is a lover of humanity but a good communist does not believe in God. In that sense, the end of this Gospel passage highlights an important aspect of our encounter with the God who seeks us out.
As soon as Christ disappeared from their sight, they recognised Him at the Breaking of Bread. The result was that they could no longer contain their excitement. They had to return to Jerusalem to share the good news of the Resurrection with the other disciples. As they say, the proof is in the pudding. When Christ touches us, we become evangelisers. We bring that good news to others. Not necessarily do we need to bang people’s head with the Bible. Rather, we become the Good News in other peoples’ life.
The thing is this, without the Resurrection, then the Disciples were right in their decision. Cut their losses and leave Jerusalem, start elsewhere. On the other hand, the Resurrection grants us an ability to carry on with life and even be joyful, celebrating that Christ did rise from the dead and He is still with us for as long as we need Him to be. His enduring presence is real through the Eucharist which He has bequeathed to His Church. We dare to be joyful despite not tasting victory because the ultimate triumph is assured by the Resurrection in the Lord.
