First reading: Acts 2:14,22–33
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me, with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.
“My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption. God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”
Second reading: 1 Pe. 1:17–21
Beloved: If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Gospel: Lk. 24:13–35
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
In other words
Fr. Sisoy Cellan, SVD (Nuestra Senora de los Remedios Parish, Zamboanga Sibugay)
In 2003, I, together with a confrere, embarked on a 285-km journey by bicycle from Nairobi, Kenya, to Arusha, Tanzania. With no escort vehicle, we pedaled our bikes loaded with personal items, tools, and food supplies. At times we looked like two lonesome figures winding through endless valleys and sparsely populated terrain. At other times, we cut an image of lost explorers wandering in the heat of the African sun. It took us two days to cover the distance. Amateur and untrained cyclists that we were, we had to rely on our wits and grits. We did it again the following year when we made a reverse ride (Arusha to Nairobi) in 2004. After accomplishing the twin feats, I realized the near-impossibility of it all. Regardless, reaching the destination was just my way to a goal, for the goal was to become a strong cyclist.
There is another journey in today’s Gospel. Two disciples of the Lord were walking towards Emmaus, discussing the recent events. Luke tells us that their faces were downcast when someone else walked with them and joined their conversation. They did not recognize the Lord right away. Only after they sat at table and broke bread with Him were their eyes opened.
We go through different journeys in life with predetermined purposes. Some journeys are intended for us to see places for the first time, encounter another culture, or meet new friends. Other journeys are meant to stimulate our minds or invigorate our weary bodies. At other times, we go on a journey to travel back in time, revisit familiar sights, and rekindle memories. Regardless of purpose, a journey can be two-directional: outward and inward Initially, the journey of the two disciples from Jerusalem to Emmaus and back was about creating a physical distance between the location of a horrible incident they just witnessed and where they thought it would be a place of refuge. Feeling lost and dejected, they decided to leave Jerusalem. In their darkest hour, the Lord manifested his presence to them, slowly restoring their hope and faith in him.
A seven-year-old boy said to his friend, “You know, I’ve already saved up ten dollars. Instead of riding the bus to school, I ran after it.” “You could have saved more had you run after a taxi,” the friend retorted.
The value and worth of our journeys could not be measured by their financial or even physical cost alone. Those who travel great distances just to visit their ailing loved ones understand this. Hence, the whole point of a journey is not the journey itself, not even the destination, but what becomes of us and what it does to us.
The disciples’ walk to Emmaus was a walk of encountering the Lord. Happenstance or by design, may our journeys, too, lead us to a more sublime encounter with God, an encounter that restores our hope, deepens our faith, and strengthens our commitment to the Lord.