The two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread
Third Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2011
Reading 1
Reading 1
Acts 2:14, 22-33
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
Peter is talking about the man he knew, Jesus of Nazareth. He was a clearly a man of God, he says. He accuses his listeners of having this man crucified. This much every one knew.
Now he declares that Jesus was God’s chosen one and so though men killed him God vindicated him by raising him to life and seating him at his right hand – making him equal with God Himself.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
Now we can see how the Old Testament incomprehensible till now finds meaning and fulfilment in Jesus. They refer to him.
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.
“My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
Peter now proclaims the Christian Faith and the Good News: Jesus is alive, seated at God’s right hand filled with God’s Spirit and filling his believers with His Spirit too.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”
May we come to “know the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, and be filled with the utter fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19)
Responsorial Psalm
R. (11a) Lord, you will show us the path of life.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
Reading 2
Beloved:
If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
Although St. Peter says “conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning” we cannot live lives without sin unless we rely on his grace. This grace he freely gives to those who really want it.
Do we realize what it cost the Son of God to save us from the worthless life of sinful indulgence? Even saints do not. His love for each of us is beyond our understanding. That is why he became a man, showed us how to live and offered his life for us on the Cross.
He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
Do you try to know Jesus better each day?
Gospel
That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
No one can recognize Jesus now except through God’s gift of Faith. They did not have it yet and so could not recognize him. It will be the same for everyone after the Resurrection, including you and me.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
Compare this with St. Peter’s witness in the first reading. By then he had met the Risen Christ and been filled with the Holy Spirit. He had become a man full of life and spiritual energy. These two have no life in them and are despondent. It is the same for all who do not know Jesus personally and experience the Holy Spirit whom Jesus gives.
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
We have to see how the whole of the Old Testament points towards Jesus and so many passages refer directly to him even if the human author didn’t realize it when he wrote. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate guiding hand in the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
Jesus will stay with all who sincerely invite him. He will then transform their lives.
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,
but he vanished from their sight.
He left them holding the Bread of Life in their hands. Jesus is now supremely present to us in the Holy Eucharist. Till he comes again in glory this is where we will find with his physical presence. The celebration of the Eucharist is our Emmaus.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
If our hearts are set on fire by the liturgy of the Word and by meeting Jesus in the celebration of the Eucharist, we will also leave the Mass on fire to proclaim what we have experienced. Are we?
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Peter’s witness is paramount because he is the official leader of the Church just then being born.
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
What is your witness?
Every Sunday an Emmaus
Life is hard without Jesus. It is hard with him too but he gives it meaning. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were without Jesus. Their lives were shattered and they had lost all hope. The dream was over and they were on their way to try and build a new life. There have been times when each of us has shared their experience.
Then Jesus comes. Of course they do not recognize him. There is only one way to recognize Jesus now and that is by faith. Sight and reason are inadequate. He explains to them the Word of God. The two disciples had heard the Scriptures since childhood but never understood them. Now as Jesus expounds the Word of God their hearts burn within them. This was a real liturgy of the Word. Our hearts should burn within us too when we listen to the Word of God in the sacred assembly on Sunday. If your heart does not, examine yourself, why not. Jesus is as present in the Sunday Assembly as he was to those two disciples. It is he who speaks to us. Then our hearts too should be set on fire. We can only see him and hear him by faith. How important it is for us to proclaim the Word of God in a manner worthy of Jesus who speaks through us.
We should not underestimate the power of the Word of God when proclaimed with faith and received with faith. It is alive and active, sharper than a two edged sword and judges the intentions and thoughts of the heart. (Heb 4:12).
The two disciples were excited with the way ‘the stranger’ had explained the Scriptures and they invite him to stay and dine with them. It is then that he breaks bread and gives himself to them. Immediately their eyes are opened and they recognize Jesus. He is no longer visible but they are left with the Word of God ringing in their ears and the bread in their hands. As if sent on a mission they rise immediately and rush back to Jerusalem to proclaim the Good News that Jesus has risen and is with them.
And that is how it will be till Jesus comes again in glory. He will speak to us each Sunday through the Word and set our hearts on fire and he will break bread with us giving us the bread, which is his own Body and Blood. Then with the enthusiasm and strength we have received we go out on mission to proclaim by word and deed that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.
Do you meet Jesus in the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist? How can you make sure that the Word of God sets your heart on fire? Do you leave the assembly on mission?
Father, may we experience Jesus each Sunday in his Word and Sacrament during the sacred assembly.
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