April 14, 2002

Father Owen's Homilies

Homily for the Third Sunday after Easter, April 14, 2002

The story of the Post Crucifixion journey of the two disciples of Jesus toward the town of Emmaus is one I never tire of reading or hearing read. Here are these two men with their hopes dashed on the rocks like a ship in a storm. They were fervent followers of this Teacher. He made sense to them. He had words that touched their hearts. The political powers of the day had convicted Him of a capital crime. His death row was the Way of the Cross. His closest disciples fled and were in hiding. These two disciples were afraid and depressed. It was Sunday. They talked excitedly.

Along comes a stranger who apparently had not read his Courier-Tribune. He seemed to be the only person who knew nothing of the events that had just happened in Jerusalem. They proceeded to clue this stranger in. But there was a new twist. The stranger then proceeded to clue them in by interpreting all the passages in the Jewish Scriptures that pertained to the Christ, the Messiah! Time for supper came. They invited the stranger to stay and continue the conversation. He stayed and broke the bread for the meal. He revealed himself in the breaking of the bread as their Teacher, the One who explained the Scriptures about the Messiah, as the Risen Lord. He was the One caused their hearts to burn within them because he was the very maker of their hearts.

Each of us walks the Road to Emmaus as we find our ways to our parish churches Sunday after Sunday. Each time we attend we do so from a fresh encounter with life. We attend after a week when happy and joyful events happen. We attend after a week of events we wish had not happened. We come to church, happy that we are appreciated and sad from a week of being neglected. We come from a week that went just as we had planned, when everything turned to gold. We come after a week when all our plans turned to lead. We come to be with people we have just met, with strangers, with people we have known for years.

We come to meet the Lord here in our Churches. We come to meet the Living Jesus in the Bible readings. We come to the table to meet the Savior, the one who lived and died for us. We come to eat his flesh and drink his blood for the courage we need for our next journey to Emmaus. We need the nourishment for the time between this Sunday and next Sunday. I hope that our hearts are burning within us as we meet Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread. Our hearts should be on fire with forgiveness, mercy, and the willingness to wash the feet of our sisters and brothers.