Meditation
for the Third Sunday of Easter
(Acts
2:14, 22-33; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35)
Let us meditate on one of the most prominent appearances of
Jesus after His resurrection. The encounter between Jesus and two of His
disciples, who were on their way to Emmaus, says a lot about our Eucharistic
celebration. “While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself
drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.” What
could prevent believers from recognizing their Master? It is lack of faith in the
resurrection or sin! The resurrected Jesus is present among believers, but unbelief
and sin blur our eyes of faith from recognizing Him. That is why the Mass
begins with the act of contrition, when we acknowledge our sins and ask for God’s
mercy. As Peter said in the first reading, we have crucified Jesus by our sins,
“But God raised Him up.”
In the liturgy of the word during the Mass, Jesus speaks to
us through the Bible readings, just as He spoke to the disciples along the road.
Only Jesus can reveal to us how He is in the Scriptures; “Beginning with Moses
and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself.” So, we listen to Jesus through the Scriptures, for He alone is the
one who can reveal to us the hidden mysteries in the words of the Bible, and
draw us to Himself as we listen. This is how both the words read at Mass and
the preaching can set our hearts on fire for Jesus.
Then the disciples said to Him, “Stay with us, for it is towards evening and the day is now far spent.” The desire for communion is sparked off by our reception of the word in our hearts. At the sacred table, Jesus gives Himself in an extra ordinary way through the breaking of the Bread, which becomes His new presence. “And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished out of their sight.” Jesus immediately withdrew the ordinary human form, but the Eucharistic form remains. In Holy Communion, the faithful realize that the Eucharistic spark within, is a deepening of the same fire they felt while listening to the Scriptures. Hence, the disciples said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”
Just as the two disciples were energized by the assurance
of faith, they received through the Eucharistic encounter to leave behind their
comfort and go against their fears back to Jerusalem, bearing witness to what
they experienced, so also, we rise from the Mass to go home and live out the
grace we received. That is why the second reading says that our faith and hope
are rooted in God through the confidence we have in Jesus, who ransomed us, not
with perishable gold or silver, but with His precious Blood. That is why, like
the disciples that were going to Emmaus, we must humbly listen and sanctify our
hearts with word of God, so that we can have a deeper encounter with Jesus in
the Eucharist. Amen.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Sunday April 23, 2023.
