This Third Sunday of Easter we hear one of my favourite passages\nfrom the Gospel: the Road to Emmaus. \nThis event is only recorded in the Gospel of Luke, and it would be wrong\nto think of it merely as another resurrection appearance. Embedded in the story is the blueprint of the\nMass, in which Jesus himself explains the scriptures and then celebrates the\nEucharist, making himself known \u201cin the breaking of the bread\u201d (Lk 24:31). Is this not the origins of the liturgy of the\nWord and the liturgy of the Eucharist? \n2000 years later, in parishes around the world, we are still following\nthe model instituted by Christ himself. \nWe can take great confidence in the fact that Our Lord is still active\nwithin his Church; he has not abandoned us, even in our current times of global\npandemic. So great is Jesus\u2019 love for\nus, he is even willing to accompany us when we turn from him and walk in the\nother direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This brings us to the second, and perhaps more profound message of\nthis Gospel passage. Recall that the two\ndisciples of Jesus are walking away from Jerusalem, away from the holy city,\nthe tangible location of God\u2019s presence on earth in the temple. They even lament, \u201cWe had hoped that he was\nthe one to redeem Israel\u201d (Lk 24:21). \nNotice the tense \u2013 \u201cwe had hoped\u201d \u2013 the pluperfect statement indicates\nthat they no longer hope, that their faith in Jesus is now gone. Yet even as his followers abandon him and\nwalk away, Jesus remains by their side, ready to accompany them in the wrong\ndirection, so as eventually to bring them back to himself. And he does the same with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this time of uncertainty and confusion, when we may be tempted to\ndoubt God\u2019s plan, or turn away from him, let us remember that Jesus is always\nwith us. Now, the Lord\u2019s abiding\npresence does not include the promise of an easy, painless life. On the contrary, we can expect trials and\nsuffering. Jesus says as much: \u201cIn this\nworld you will face persecution. But\ntake courage; I have conquered the world\u201d (Jn 16:33). Let us not embrace the pluperfect tense of\nthe two disciples on the road to Emmaus, saying, \u201cWe had hoped.\u201d Rather let us be people strong in faith,\nproclaiming we have<\/em> hoped, we hope\nnow, and we will always hope in the Lord Jesus, who loves us and abides with us\nthrough every difficulty and trail. And\nin God\u2019s good time, we will weather this storm together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My friends, keep the faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kevin Ponte<\/strong> \u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fot. \/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 3rd Sunday of Easter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n