Doing it All Right, and No One Notices
Third Sunday of Easter—The slow recognition of Christ in Word and Sacrament
On the road to Emmaus, Our Lord is made known again.
When we look at the readings for this Sunday, our reading from Luke is of the most amazement. It speaks to a truth of every generation that is simply unshakeable: we encounter Our Lord but we do not recognize Him! Somehow, we miss Him. What is that something that is missing?
When we look at the disciples as they are described in the scriptures, they can sound like many of us. They had been in Jerusalem, they had seen, they had heard, they had even been at table. But when the Passion came to pass, and they themselves had not seen the Risen Christ, they were already on their way to Emmaus.
As they are on their way, they walk with Our Lord. He opens the scriptures to them, so that they might be able to know, and still, nothing. It is only when they are at table and Christ breaks bread that their eyes are opened. From Word to Sacrament, the eyes of these disciples were opened, much as our liturgy is structured.
Here we find the crux of our message. In our parishes today, we feel the need for engagement in a way that is rapturous. We rarely see the parish council opt for something that is more sequential, and more based on consistent encounter. And yet, this is how Our Lord approached His own disciples who did not recognize Him. There is a gradual unveiling of who He is.
Parishes today like to parachute. Here is your big event for the year, hope you enjoyed it. Rather than constant, consistent, and unveiling formation.
In Acts, we see that the Church is consistent. It is in that consistency that they are able to more readily recognize Christ. We can all end up like the disciples on the road to Emmaus. We encounter Christ, but we do not recognize Him. We listen to His words, we even sit at table and break bread with Him. All this happens in the living Church; Christ can walk with us and we would never know. Therefore, we must all the more desire that burning heart to know and to believe, to encounter and to recognize. Especially in the sacraments. When we do this, we may be like the disciples on the road to Emmaus and go to proclaim,
“Christus resurrexit!”
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Feast Day Spotlight
Third Sunday of Easter—The Road to Emmaus
The Emmaus account became one of the Church’s earliest lenses for understanding the structure of the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word leading into the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
In the patristic period, figures like Saint Augustine of Hippo frequently pointed to this passage to explain why Scripture alone, without sacramental participation, remains incomplete in the life of the believer.
As he writes:
“They recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.”
Not before.
This insight shaped centuries of liturgical development, reinforcing a principle that remains difficult in practice: understanding follows participation, not the other way around.
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And here is my favorite song for the day!
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