Acts 2:14, 22-33
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35

Scripture and Eucharist

This Sunday we hear the famous story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They know Jesus was crucified and buried. But, they even heard rumors that some of the women had found the tomb empty. Despondent over Jesus’ death, they are walking home to Emmaus when suddenly Christ joins them. They are amazed that Christ seems oblivious about all that has happened in Jerusalem. Christ then explains the Scriptures and the prophecies about him and when they later recount that experience they say, “Were not our hearts burning within us…” It was not until he joins them at their home and blesses and breaks bread for them that they truly recognize who he is. They immediately return to Jerusalem to share their experience with the disciples there.

In Jerusalem, the frightened disciples are locked in an upper room because they feared they would be arrested and suffer the same fate as Jesus. Suddenly Christ appears before them. The disciples are not looking for Christ because they were convinced that that he died and was buried. But the opposite is true because it is Christ who comes to them revealing his risen self. 

This should remind us that in every moment of our lives, God reveals God’s own self to us in many different ways. God is revealed to us not when we ask for it because God is always with us. Just as the two disciples felt their hearts burning within them as Christ explained the scriptures to them, so must we come to take the Word of God (scriptures) deeply within us. If we really read, reflect and pray with scripture, and try to live by those living words, are hearts will be burning within us just as the Emmaus disciples experienced it.

It was in the experience of Christ blessing and breaking bread, a Eucharistic moment, that the disciples recognized the Christ. We can have this same experience daily in our Eucharistic celebrations. The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are available to us at every mass. How attentive are we to these sacred encounters with the risen Christ? 

Like the two on the road to Emmaus, do we proclaim the good news to all we meet?

Do we think to bring each week’s experiences with us into Mass? Is the Eucharist just something we receive, or do we let it change us?