By Colleen O’Sullivan
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 reported on the events of
the preceding week.) 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… (Jesus stopped to eat the evening
meal 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?” (Luke 24:15-17,
25-27, 30-32)
Piety
Christ is
risen. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Study
It’s
Sunday, but it may as well still be Friday for Cleopas and his fellow
disciple. Shattered and despairing, they
are leaving Jerusalem behind, all their hopes nailed to a cross and then
hastily buried in a borrowed tomb.
Grieving, with no idea what they are going to do, and maybe not even
caring, they steadily put one foot in front of the other.
We’ve all
trekked through that valley of the shadow of death – wondering what we will do
now that we’ve buried a beloved family member or friend, lost a job, been
diagnosed with a serious illness, or found ourselves alone in an empty house,
our marriage over. We know all too well
the journey of fear and uncertainty that Luke describes in today’s Gospel
reading.
But then
the Risen Lord appears! It is
Easter. It turns out that death is not
the end. Everything is transformed. After despair there is hope. After sadness there is the promise of
joy. There is new life after each of the
dyings we experience. And we realize
there is no path we take in this life so obscure or hidden that Jesus cannot
find it. He comes to us wherever we are
and walks beside us, revealing himself and his inimitable love for us.
Action
Once Cleopas and his friend recognize their travel
companion, they reverse direction and hurry back to Jerusalem. They are bursting to share the good news with
the other disciples. Our Lord
lives! We have seen him!
Wherever you go this week, joyfully ring out the
Easter alleluias for all to hear.
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