Reflection - Sunday 23rd April

A Gospel within the Gospel

The Emmaus story is like a gospel within the gospel. It is so rich a lesson that it serves as a summary of our own bonding with Jesus Christ. For these disciples on the road to Emmaus, the future looked grim indeed. For the previous few years, life had been exciting and they were captivated by the Gospel message of Jesus. But it emerges that they hadn’t grasped some vital parts of what he had said. We can empathise with them, because mostly we too tend to pick and choose the parts of his message that please us, and fail to take seriously other words of the Lord.

After his death on the cross, they felt all was lost. But Jesus used the Jewish scriptures to enlighten them. The prophecies declare the divine promises and reveal the saving plan of God. The Scriptures have power like an electric current, and are inspired by the Spirit of God. When he opened the meaning of God’s Word to them, they began to understand his cross in a totally new light. They saw it not as a total disaster but as the start of a new age of grace.

Once arrived in Emmaus, they recognised him also in the breaking of bread. The prayerful sharing of a meal among friends was a living symbol of friendship and trust. What was special about the way Jesus broke the bread is an intriguing question. Perhaps it was the spirit of self-giving that he invested in the act that showed them who he really was. There was a level of focus, of sharing and of sacredness unique to Jesus, something they had experienced previously, before his passion. His presence touched their deepest hungers, and the bread he broke was not just physical. It was food that they opened their hearts as well as their mouths to receive.

The Emmaus story speaks to people of all ages. We can see ourselves in these two weary travellers on their journey, the faith and hope they have lost, the future they have hoped for fallen apart. And yet they met an unknown friend walking the road with them, who gave them a fresh insight, and connected the new world with the world they knew. And, of course, he is present in a particular way in the Eucharist, in the breaking of bread, full of the many meanings that breaking bread had for Jesus himself, during his life and after the resurrection.

© Association of Catholic Priests, Ireland