Third Sunday of Easter

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? So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them.

The two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem. They are leaving. The man they followed has been crucified, it is the third day, and they are done. Notice what Jesus does: he does not appear in glory and command them to turn around. He falls into step beside them and asks what they are talking about. He walks with them in their disappointment. He meets them where they are, not where they should be.

Brother, Jesus meets you on the road you are actually walking, not the road you ought to be walking. If you are walking away from something - from the community, from a commitment, from the practices of the faith you once held - he is not standing in Jerusalem waiting for you to come back on your own. He is on the road beside you, asking what you are carrying, opening the Scriptures while your heart burns without you knowing why.

The recognition comes at the table. He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. The Eucharist. Every Sunday, the same sequence that opened the Emmaus disciples' eyes happens at the altar: he takes, blesses, breaks, and gives. If you have been attending Mass without feeling the burn, ask yourself whether you have been expecting the recognition to come during the Scriptures rather than in the breaking of the bread. The disciples' hearts burned during the walk. Their eyes opened at the table. Both are necessary. The word warms the heart. The Eucharist reveals the person.

Peter writes that you were ransomed not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ. The price paid for you was not a transaction. It was a life given. The road to Emmaus is the road every man walks when he forgets the price that was paid and starts treating the faith as something he can take or leave. You cannot take or leave the faith for which a man bled to death.

Return to Jerusalem this week. If you have been walking away from something - Confession, a commitment, a relationship, the community - turn around. The Emmaus disciples recognized Jesus and set out at once for Jerusalem. They did not wait until morning. They went back immediately. Whatever you need to return to, go back this week. The road home is shorter than you think, because the one who walks it with you is already there.

Lord, my heart has been burning and I did not know it was you. I have been walking away, and you walked with me. Open my eyes in the breaking of the bread today. I set out at once. I return to Jerusalem. The road home is shorter than I thought, because you are on it. Alleluia. Amen.