＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 3: 1-10

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 24: 13-35*

That same day, two of them were going to Emmaus,

a village seven miles from Jeru­salem,   and they talked about what had hap­pened.   While they were talking and wondering, Jesus came up and walked with them,  but their eyes were held and they did not recognize him.  He asked, “What is this you are talking about?” The two stood still, looking sad.

Then one named Cleo­phas answered, “Why, it seems you are the only traveller in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has happened there these past­ few days.”   And he asked, “What is it?” They replied, “It is about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet, you know, mighty in word and deed before God and the people.   But the chief priests and our rulers sentenced him to death. They handed him over to be crucified.   We had hoped that he would redeem Israel.

It is now the third day since all this took place.  It is true that some women of our group have disturbed us. When they went to the tomb at dawn,   they did not find his body; they came to tell us that they had seen a vision of angels who told them that Jesus was alive.(….) He said to them, “How dull you are, how slow of understanding! Is the message of the prophets too difficult for you to understand?  Is it not written that the Christ should suffer all this and then enter his glory?”  (….)

As they drew near the village they were heading for, Jesus made as if to go farther.   But they prevailed upon him, “Stay with us, for night comes quickly. The day is now almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.   When they were at table, he took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece.

 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; but he vanished out of their sight.   And they said to each other, “Were not our hearts filled with ardent yearning when he was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures?”

 They immediately set out and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and their companions gathered together.  They were greeted by these words: “Yes, it is true, the Lord is risen! He has appeared to Simon!”  Then the two told what had happened on the road and how Jesus made himself known when he broke bread with them.

 

Ps 105 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9 Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.

 

Gospel Reflection：

The Christian’s greatest treasure is more other than Jesus himself, his relationship with him, his faith in him, and his utter dependence on his abiding presence. The disciples had no money to give to the crippled man who had begged them for alms, but they had something far greater: the power of Christ that resides in those who put their trust completely in him. It’s a power that heals and liberates us from whatever things hinder us from recognizing his presence in all the events and circumstances of our life, pleasant or other wise.

The gospel account of the two disciples’ journey to Emmaus presents us with a different kind of ‘healing’ , miracle – one that allowed them to recognize Jesus who all the while had been walking with them. Blinded perhaps by grief, they simply could not believe that Jesus had in fact risen from the dead. But at the breaking of the bread, they finally saw him – as the memory of their final supper with him, when he gave them his body and blood – lifted their veil of grief.