Third Sunday of Easter: He Stays With Us

This weekend is a special one.

Some of the young people of our parish will receive, for the very first time, our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist.

That's a big deal.

For those of us who have been receiving Communion for even a few years, it's easy to lose sight of that. It becomes just something you always do when you go to Mass.

Today, I'd like for all of us to imagine that we are in their seats - let's try to remember the excitement, the anticipation, and the nervousness of receiving Communion for the first time. Let's participate in this Mass as if it is our First Communion, with all the meaning behind that And our gospel story will help us.

The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus takes place in the afternoon on that very first Easter Sunday. After experiencing everything that happened to Jesus in the past few days, these disciples were leaving the city - and they are hurt. They feel confused and disappointed that the hope they had because of Jesus seems to have come to nothing. Even though some of the women of their group are saying that Jesus is alive, they don't believe it and can't makes sense of what has happened to them.

Sometimes, that is how we come to Mass. We're tired from a week of work or school; maybe we're a little beat up from everything that's happened to us. Things might not have gone the way we wanted them to - and so we come to Mass thinking, "Where were you, God? Why didn't you help me?"

Then, like He did with the two disciples, Jesus walks with us.

On the road to Emmaus, He came and explained to them that the Scriptures, what we would call the Old Testament, foretold that all of this would happen. Jesus shows them that God had promised to send a savior and that that savior would die to save them from their sins. He shows that, only now, in Jesus, does all of history make sense.

St. Peter does the same thing in our first reading. In his sermon, he explains how the true meaning of Psalm 16 is only revealed in Jesus, the descendant of David who God did preserve from death and corruption.

All of this is the first part of the Mass, the liturgy of the Word. In the readings, we hear God speak to us. Then, in the homily, hopefully, the priest ties those readings together and that what we've heard isn't just a bunch of readings from an old book, but the voice of God speaking to us today.

It's only in communication with God that our lives will make sense, so, when we listen to the readings, we must listen with an open heart, asking God to send His Holy Spirit on us so that we can hear what He wants to say. In the readings, encounter God, but that encounter doesn't end there.

When the two disciples reach their destination, they don't want their conversation to end. Even though they don't recognize the Lord, as they say later, their "hearts were burning." They are receiving the truth through this mysterious stranger.

They beg Him: "Stay with us …" And He does, but not in the way that they expect.

When they sit down to eat, Jesus does something familiar: he takes bread, says the blessing, breaks it, and gives it to them. And in that moment, they recognize Him.

These are the same actions that Jesus performs at the Last Supper, when He instituted the Eucharist. Now, as He breaks bread with His disciples once again, they finally see Him for who He is.

This is significant for us.

We were not present when Jesus was walking around Palestine, preaching and ministering to the people. We don't see His face, we don't hear His voice.

But, in this story, Jesus tells us that He is still present to us.

He is with us in the Eucharist.

That is the way that He stays with His Church until the end of time: in the form of bread and wine that we receive and make part of ourselves.

At every Mass, we encounter the living God. And the Eucharist is not a nice symbol or a sort of weak replacement for what those first Christians experienced.

The Eucharist is Jesus giving Himself to us.

Today, at this Mass and at every Mass, let us thank God for that gift; and let us keep our minds and hearts open, so that we may recognize our Lord who comes to stay with us.