TO ENCOUNTER AND RECOGNIZE THE LORD.

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April 23, 2023.
Third Sunday of Easter – A.

Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-33; Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; 1Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35.

An Afghan proverb says: “If you don't recognize God, at least know Him by His power.” And a French proverb adds: “You recognize the saint by his miracle.”

Every Eucharistic celebration is a moment to encounter the Lord. But oftentimes, even though we encounter him, we fail to recognize him. Blinded by worries and overloaded by worldliness, we do not easily recognize the precious presence of the Lord by our side. So, we need signs and events to open us to His presence.

The Eucharist is a three-partied celebration: encounter, recognition, and mission. In that sense, coming at mass, we are like the two disciples on the journey toward Emmaus. We are filled with darkness, deception, questions, reminiscence of our past... We are so loaded with our problems that we do not even recognize the presence of the Lord. We need Him to come, encounter us in our way, and open us to the depths of His words. And the encounter will prepare us for another greater moment, to recognize the Lord. Every encounter we make with the Risen Lord leads us to recognize him. And the par excellence place where all is made clear about him is in the breaking of the bread. The eyes of the two disciples were opened only at that moment when he broke the bread. This is a great message for us today. The place where we can truly get to know the Risen Lord is in the Eucharist. It is there that all veils of darkness and sightlessness fall from our eyes, and we are given to see. Once we see and recognize the Lord, the joy of his encounter leads us to the third part, the mission; which is to go and proclaim him, to witness his Resurrection to others.

There are times in life when we seem lost and without direction or hope. In those moments, what we need the most is a companion to make the journey with us, to redirect our ways, and bring us back to the right path and to hope. Msgr. Leandro N. Castro, in his short Sunday meditation, "A Sunday Meal" said something very inspiring about today's Gospel passage, and this could apply to you and me today. He says: "An American bishop once said, "The two disciples were going the wrong way. While everybody was going to Jerusalem, they were heading to Emmaus." Nonetheless, the Risen Lord walked with them to give them light of faith. Even if at times we travel the wrong direction, Jesus walks with us to straighten our crooked path."

Where in life do you get lost? Where is your Emmaus? And how do you open yourself to the encounter with the Lord that could change your whole life and history?

Everybody has his personal answer to these questions. But above all the answers, the Holy Eucharist stands as the center of all our encounters with the Lord. And in that sense, the Eucharist is intrinsically linked to the bodily Resurrection of Jesus. There is no Holy Eucharist without the body and blood of Jesus Christ. And the Holy Eucharist helps make the Resurrection an everyday reality for us in our lives. It is the moment of the transforming encounter.

Let us now focus on the Emmaus experience and see how it helps to rediscover the Eucharist and to live it as a moment of an encounter that changes and gives reason to live. St. Luke says, "That very day..." that means the day of the Lord’s Resurrection. The scene takes place after the sorrowful happenings of Good Friday and the silent Black Saturday. All hope has vanished from the disciples. Some are now returning to their previous life. There seem to be no signs of the Resurrection. Even though some women came to witness the discovery of the empty tomb and their encounter; even though Peter and John had their own experience, the two men, filled with discouragement, did not believe anything of what was said. So, nothing holds them back to Jerusalem. Therefore, Emmaus turns out to be their only option. As says the proverb, "If you do not know where you are going, know at least where you come from." But on their way back home, their journey is turned into a celebration: Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist, Dismissal, the three constituents of every Mass.

Every time that we come to Mass, we bring with us our worries and doubts, and questions. Only the Lord can answer them. And that is what he did with the disciples. "Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures." That is the Liturgy of the Word. At Mass, the Lord leads us to discover who He is through His Word.

But then comes the second step, the Liturgy of the Eucharist. "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..." One simple sentence. “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” It is followed by a simple action, the breaking of the bread, and the discovery is made: "With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him..."

The Holy Eucharist is the place where we can encounter and recognize the Lord. When you come at mass, you come for an encounter. This must not be without impact on you. For, you meet the Lord. You hear his words. You receive him in the Eucharist. But how do you get to know him better? Does your communion to His body transform you?

Lastly, the return, or the Dismissal. "So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and... recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread." At every Eucharistic celebration, the priest dismisses us, sends us on a mission, that is, to go and tell others that the Lord is truly Risen. The “Ite, missa est!” is a sending off for an active Eucharistic life. After receiving the Lord in the Eucharist, we must do away with all fears and go to preach about Him. We must not fear the darkness of sin, hatred, jealousy, persecution, or rejection... The Christians are not worriers but warriors of faith. They are filled with love and armed with hope to always go ahead. Emmaus is the mass of our daily life. The Lord gives himself to us in his word and makes his presence more manifest in the Holy Eucharist, the breaking of the bread so that we too may go and give him to others. May our Emmaus be a road back to hope and to a missionary life filled with zeal and love for the Lord and the neighbor.


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