This weekend, we get a picture of life without hope as the two disciples move away from Jerusalem toward Emmaus. Jerusalem, of course, is the Lord’s city. You go toward Jerusalem to meet the Lord.
Luke tells us that they “looked downcast” when Jesus asked what they were talking about. They respond, “Haven’t you been reading the newspapers? Aren’t you up on current events?” They are discouraged over current events – how Jesus was handed over, sentenced to death, and crucified. Their focus on the negative or the bad news leaves them discouraged. Like junk food, bad news tastes good in the moment but leaves one feeling empty and discouraged.
People sometimes tell me how they are discouraged from all the darkness in the world. Our Lord reminds us, “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Oftentimes, I remind people in the confessional, “Cut back on your news intake. It is causing you to become discouraged.”
Notice how Christ begins to heal their discouragement. He shares the Good News with them. Jesus turns their attention to Sacred Scripture. He shows them how beginning with Moses and all the prophets, God worked through all sorts of bad news – suffering, grief, loss, and pain. In God’s wisdom, He writes straight with crooked lines, i.e., guides history by drawing out good from all that is bad.
The Risen Christ helps them to see how bad news fits within God’s bigger picture. Nothing is outside of God’s providence. In other words, our Lord helps them to see things from God’s perspective.
After a thorough Scripture study, Jesus further heals their despair with the Eucharist. Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them. “Take, bless, break, and give” are the same four verbs used at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Even though Jesus vanishes from their sight, He remains with them in the Eucharist. Christ always stays with His Church in the Eucharist.
The ancient Church Fathers recognized that our first parents fell by a tree and a bad meal – eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, we are saved through a tree, the Cross, and through eating a good meal, the Eucharist, bringing us back into communion with God.
The Eucharist is not only the true Presence of Christ, but it is also God’s pledge that He guides us to heaven. In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites manna in the desert, which tasted like honey (Ex. 16:31). It was a pledge that God would bring them to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. 3:17). In the same way, the Eucharist is God’s pledge or promise that He will guide us to the true Promised Land, heaven itself.
This weekend’s readings are about hope. Practically, how can you increase in hope? Remember those great words from Pope Benedict XVI, “The one who has hope lives differently.”
First, always stay focused on God. He is the reason for and source of your hope. God has made a lot of promises to us and He always keeps His promises. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you – plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope” (Jer. 29:11). The world will always try to distract you from God and His promises. However, stay focused on our Lord. Our God is a God of hope.
Second, take a page out of Jesus’ playbook. When the two disciples were downcast, Jesus directed their attention to God’s Word. In other words, the God of today will help us with all the problems we face is the same God of yesterday who worked through their problems. As God provided for the two disciples, so He will provide for us.
Reading Sacred Scripture gives you confidence. Along with the Eucharist, God’s Word is your daily bread. God promises that He will always care for you! Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist both testify that God is faithful and that you can trust Him!
Finally, remember that Easter is a season of hope! Christ’s Resurrection reminds you that the frontiers of death are overcome and that in the end, love wins. In short, when the Risen Christ remains at the center of your life, you live differently!
~St. Thérèse, pray for us!