First Reading – Acts 2: 14, 22 – 33
Second Reading – 1 Peter 1: 17 – 21,
Gospel – Luke 24: 13 – 35
Len Sweet tells this story about Karl Barth, the famous Swiss theologian. It may be a true story or an evangelised version. Karl Barth was riding a streetcar in his home city of Basel, Switzerland. He took a seat next to a tourist, and the two men started chatting with one another. “Are you new to the city?” Barth inquired. “Yes,” said the tourist.” “Is there anything you would particularly like to see in the city?” asked Barth. “Yes,”replied the tourist, “I would like to meet the famous Swiss theologian, Karl Barth; do you know him?” Barth answered, “As a matter of fact, I do know him. I give him a shave every morning!“ The tourist got off the streetcar at the next stop, quite delighted with himself. He went back to his hotel and told everyone, “I met Karl Barth’s barber today!” — Len Sweet tells the story to make the point that we, like the disciples who were on the way to Emmaus, often fail to recognise Jesus when he is among us. It’s about recognition (or the lack of it). We meet people who know him, who love him and revel in his grace. We read their books and listen to their podcasts. Sometimes we even get to meet them. We are content to say, “I met your Evangelical Superhero here today!” The crazy irony is the missed opportunity for meeting Jesus living with us and within us.
Our Scripture lessons for today have one common, encouraging theme: No matter what happens in our lives, the risen Jesus is always with us. God is near to those who seek Him and who want to live in His presence, doing His will. The Emmaus incident is the story of a God who will not abandon us when we are hurt and disappointed. As Francis Thompson put it, He is “The Hound of Heaven” who relentlessly follows us when we try to escape from His love. The message of today’s Scripture readings is that the followers of Jesus are to maintain contact with their risen Lord through prayer, the Eucharist, and the Bible. The readings also remind us that our belief in Jesus’ presence in the consecrated Bread and Wine should help us to understand better his presence in the Bible and in the believing and worshipping community. Putting the two appearances (to the Emmaus disciples and to Peter), together, it is clear that the risen Jesus wants Peter to act as spokesman for him, and that the faithful who seek to follow Jesus should seek his company in the Eucharist, in prayer, in the praying community, and in the Bible under the direction of Peter and his successors. Jesus meets us on our Emmaus Road. The risen Lord meets us on the road to our Emmaus, both in the ordinary experiences of our lives, and in the places to which we retreat when life is too much for us. We, too, have hopes and dreams about better health, healing, financial security and family relationships. These hopes and dreams often shatter. The story promises us, however, that Jesus will come to us in unfamiliar guises to support and strengthen us when we least expect our risen Lord. Emmaus moments come to us when we meet the risen Christ on our life’s journey through rough times. The road to Emmaus is a road of companionship. Jesus, now freed from the space-time limits of his earthly life, is present in our midst and wants to be our Friend. The risen Lord desires that we walk with Him and with one another: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour” (Is 43:2-3). He wants to join us in our travels of life: “I am a Companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts” (Ps 119:63). “Where two or three are gathered in My Name, I am there among them” (Mt 18:20). We meet Jesus daily in our life’s journey. The Church instructs us to hear Jesus on a daily basis through our faithful reading of, and meditation on, the Bible; through our participation in the Eucharistic celebration at which we receive Jesus as our spiritual Food and Drink ; through our personal and family prayers; and through our family meals. When we meet our risen Lord through the Word of God, we commune with him. We renew our relationship with Jesus through prayer. All these meetings prepare and enable us to encounter the risen Jesus living in all the people we meet and to do Him humble, loving and selfless service in each of them. Do our hearts burn when we listen to the Risen Lord? Sacred Tradition teaches us that the reading of the Scriptures, the study of the Scriptures and the proclamation of the message of the Scriptures are the primary ways in which we meet God. Vatican II (Dei Verbum 21) tells us that Jesus is to be equally venerated in the Eucharist and in the Bible. Therefore, we need to study the Bible, learn the Bible, memorise the Bible and meditate on the word of God. We know that Christ lives in the Bible, and so we need to spend time in the Bible to have a deep, intimate, loving, caring, long-term relationship with Jesus Christ. We know we are to brush our teeth every day. Likewise, we are to read the Bible every day, making it habitual, because people either read the Bible daily or almost never. When we read the Scriptures daily we meet and converse with Jesus Christ!
Abraham Lincoln, whom many consider the best President of the United States, said: “The greatest gift that God gave to human beings is the Bible.” Another President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, said that it was a principle of his to read the Bible through each and every year. Yet another great President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, said, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” Goethe, the great German philosopher, said that the beauty of the Bible grows as we grow in our understanding of it.