Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

“The Emmaus Disciples”
by Abraham Bloemaert, 1622

 
Readings for Wednesday in the Octave of Easter [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading 1: Acts 3:1-10
 
Peter and John were going up to the temple area
for the three o'clock hour of prayer.
And a man crippled from birth was carried
and placed at the gate of the temple called "the Beautiful Gate" every day
to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple.
When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he asked for alms.
But Peter looked intently at him, as did John,
and said, "Look at us."
He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said, "I have neither silver nor gold,
but what I do have I give you:
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk."
Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong.
He leaped up, stood, and walked around,
and went into the temple with them,
walking and jumping and praising God.
When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
they recognized him as the one
who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple,
and they were filled with amazement and astonishment
at what had happened to him.
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Commentary on Acts 3:1-10
 
This dramatic cure of the lame beggar is the first miracle worked by the apostles and begins a series of events that place the disciples in the footsteps of Jesus. "'This cure,' says St John Chrysostom, 'testifies to the resurrection of Christ, of which it is an image. [...] Observe that they do not go up to the temple with the intention of performing a miracle, so clear were they of ambition, so closely did they imitate their Master' (Hom. on Acts, 8)."[4]
 
In this first action, the beggar is cured in the name of Jesus and immediately he is led into the temple area. The symbolism here is that Jesus heals us and leads us to faith. The miraculous cure also serves a secondary purpose. In addition to demonstrating the power of God’s intense love invoked through the name of Jesus, it also serves to draw a large crowd to hear the kerygmatic discourse of St. Peter which follows.
 
CCC: Acts 3:1 584; Acts 3:9 2640
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
 
R. (3b) Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations,
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
 
The song of praise exhorts us to praise the Lord constantly and to remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac. We praise him also for the new covenant in Jesus, for which the Son of God became the sealing sacrifice. It emphasizes the saving power of the name of the Lord.  In using the name of God, the speaker implicitly gives glory to God for the blessings that follow.
 
CCC: Ps 105:3 30
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Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
 
That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus' disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
"What are you discussing as you walk along?"
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?"
And he replied to them, "What sort of things?"
They said to him,
"The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see."
And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?"
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, "Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over."
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
"Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
"The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!"
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
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Commentary on Lk 24:13-35
 
This story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is found only in Luke’s Gospel. It is the first appearance of the Lord following his resurrection in Luke.  There is a mention in Mark (Mark 16;12) that is vague but probably refers to this event. The actual location of Emmaus is not known, but it is estimated that it was between seven and eighteen miles from Jerusalem. The focus of the story is the unrecognized Jesus (similar: in John 20:11-18, Mary Magdalene thought he was a gardener).

It appears these disciples thought the unknown stranger joining them was "ignorant of events." They begin to explain their understanding of events.  Here one of the travelers is named "Clopas." This is likely to be Luke's source for the event and it was probably his wife who stood by the cross in St. John's Gospel. (John 19:25) [5] It is clear from the disciples' dialogue that they do not understand the true mission of the Lord, nor that he was the long-awaited Messiah whose mission is the redemption of mankind.

"In the course of their conversation with Jesus, the disciples' mood changes from sadness to joy; they begin to hope again, and feel the need to share their joy with others, thus becoming heralds and witnesses of the risen Christ." [6]
 
Jesus interprets scripture and then he is recognized in the breaking of the bread (the Eucharistic reference). Luke uses the exact phrase used at the feeding of the five thousand (Luke 9:12): "he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them." Their reaction in recognizing him mirrors St. Peter's reaction immediately following as he confesses the Lord to be "The Messiah of God." (Luke 9:20)
 
CCC: Lk 24:13-49 1094; Lk 24:13-35 1329, 1347; Lk 24:15 645, 659; Lk 24:17 643; Lk 24:21 439; Lk 24:22-23 640; Lk 24:25-27 112, 601; Lk 24:26-27 572, 652; Lk 24:26 555, 710; Lk 24:27 555, 2625; Lk 24:30 645, 1166; Lk 24:31 659; Lk 24:34 552, 641
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Reflection:
 
The disciples on the road to Emmaus were almost assuredly giving up.  They had just seen the Lord, for whom they had such high hopes, crucified and killed by the Romans.  Now they were headed toward Emmaus for some unknown reason.  It has been speculated that they were going home or perhaps, fearing further violence against Jesus’ supporters, they were simply running away.  Whatever their reasons might have been, the most likely purpose for their trip was to be headed away from the Lord rather than toward him.
 
The story tells us that Jesus joined them as they walked and, after hearing them explain how they perceived events that had taken place, he proceeded to break open the Law and Prophets, citing all of those instances that predicted what had unfolded in Jerusalem three days prior (remember, this is taking place after Mary reported finding the empty tomb).  Intellectually the disciples must have been thinking all of this made sense (in retrospect they would look back and remember how that revelatory conversation had caused their hearts to burn).
 
Still they did not recognize him until he recreated the Eucharist for them at the meal.  How blessed they were, who were shown Jesus in the Eucharist in such a way.  And how sad it is that many of us today have failed to recognize Jesus, even when we are told countless times that Jesus left us his body and blood in just that way.
 
The beauty of the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is that we can all put ourselves in the place of the disciples.  Sometimes, on that dusty road, we are frightened and we feel like we don’t know it is the Lord who is walking with us.  At times we are very close to Jesus and at times we feel like those disciples must have felt at the beginning of their journey: that they were running away.  We place ourselves at different times and in different places on that road, and pray that we always recognize the Lord in those who travel with us.  We most especially pray that in this Easter Week we recognize the Lord in the bread and wine, his Risen Body broken for us.
 
Pax
 
In other years on this date: Memorial of John Baptist de la Salle

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[1] The picture used is “The Emmaus Disciples” by Abraham Bloemaert, 1622.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible, "Gospels and Acts," Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 737.
[5] The Gospel of Luke by Pablo T. Gadenz © 2018, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids MI, p.395.
[6] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 513.