by Deacon Leon Suprenant
One of my favorite Eastertide Gospels is the familiar story of the risen Lord meeting two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-35). The disciples didn’t at first recognize our Lord. Then he opened the Scriptures to them and finally was recognized in the breaking of the bread.
As amazing as that is, there’s even more for us to take away in order to be ambassadors of God’s mercy and healing. Let’s look at what Jesus is doing and consider how we might approach others in a similar way.
First, “Jesus himself drew near and walked with them.” We can’t share the blessings of our faith if we don’t engage people! The idea isn’t to impose ourselves on others (nobody likes that!), but as St. John Paul II would say, we “walk alongside” others. We enter into their experience . . . and their pain.
Second, Jesus listens. Notice that he did not barge in with an agenda. Rather, he asked the disciples, “What are you discussing . . . ?” He was interested in what they had to say and asked follow-up questions. (“What sort of things?”)
Sometimes, listening is one of the greatest gifts we can offer to others, especially those who are lonely, burdened, or troubled.
Only after walking with these disciples and listening to their stories, did the Lord open the Scriptures for them. He showed how everything in Moses and the prophets pointed to him.
For us, too, our witness should inevitably point to Christ, the one Savior of the world, and not to ourselves or to political, economic, or pragmatic solutions.
After Jesus preached the Gospel to the disciples, he was going to leave, but the disciples wanted more. So, Jesus “went in to stay with them.”
What happened after that was a eucharistic-type encounter, where the disciples’ eyes were opened in the breaking of the bread.
Opening the Scriptures leads to an encounter with Jesus. Most profoundly, it leads us to the Eucharist — today as it did for the disciples 2,000 years ago.
But there’s more.
Upon recognizing Jesus, “he vanished from their sight.” The disciples reflected on this experience and then “set out at once and returned to Jerusalem,” where they told others about their experience of Jesus.
When others encounter the Lord, they are re-oriented to the church, the new Jerusalem.
They also have their own story to tell now. The Gospel is multiplying, as they embody the words of the Samaritans who first heard about Jesus from the woman at the well:
“We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world” (Jn. 4:42).
