Third Sunday of Easter – Cycle A
Reflecting on Luke 24:13-35
And so it comes around again, this most beautifully developed of all the appearance stories. It’s not new to us, but our hearts burn within us as we hear again of those two disciples who left Jerusalem that Easter morning.
Caravaggio
We know the name of one—Cleopas—but the second disciple goes unnamed. I think she was probably Mrs. Cleopas. Might this traveler have been the very Mary, wife of Clopas who stood at the foot of the cross in John’s Gospel? If so, then her companions that dreadful Friday had been no less than Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus. And yet now she and her husband, after the terrifying event, are leaving the city and returning to their home in Emmaus.
The tomb is empty. Where is he? What can it mean? Is there any reason to hope that he’s alive?
And then of course they are met on the road by a fellow traveler. Hasn’t he heard of all the events in Jerusalem these past three days? And they begin to let their hearts break a little as they tell the stranger about him whom they love.
I wonder. What if, in these Easter weeks of First Communions and Confirmations, we walked with our children for just a little bit and told them about him whom we love. Take a walk this week with someone and talk about Jesus. I’ll bet you he’ll show up right there, on the road, on the journey. Draw near to him and watch him draw near to you. And then get ready for some heart-burn.
In what ways do you sense the presence of Jesus when you speak with others about him?
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I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).