Sermon on Luke 24:13-35 on 23^rd April

• They were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
• Jesus himself came near to them but their eyes were kept from recognising him.
• Jesus asked them what are you discussing with each other?
• They stood still and looked sad.

Then one of them whose name was Cleopas answered him: are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?

What things? asked Jesus

They replied: The things about Jesus of Nazareth, He was a prophet mighty in deed  and all people, and now the chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.

We had hope that there was one to redeem Israel.

They were astounded because they did not believe what the women reported to the group. They did not believe.

Jesus then reproached them and he began to explain to them the Torah beginning with Moses and all the prophets, interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

Jesus reproached them not because they did not read the scriptures, he reproached them because they did not understand them.

They called him a prophet, didn’t they recognise him as a son of God?

Perhaps the two men were kept from recognising him because they needed to learn the lesson of the miracle of the resurrection before revealing himself to them and giving away all the answers. The way of Emmaus meant a faith walk.

This meeting may resonate with various experiences we encounter on our way home today. On our way to Emmaus we may find ourselves in a dark place where we too, like Cleopas and his companion, feel discouraged and without hope.

Maybe some of us are bereaved, some have lost their job, some are refugees due to war or persecution, maybe others are in a dark place because they have read the scripture without understanding the message of love and compassion, using them to discriminate or to oppress.

We are in the dark because we normally plan our life and in some way we think that everything we planned will happen. And then when things go wrong, we lose our control and we panic.  When reading the Bible did you see that life was perfect? Did Jesus have an easy ride? When we are in a dark place, where do we find Christ? Where do we find hope?

We may find the answer through reading and reflecting on the scriptures, we may find the answer during prayer and being in conversation with Christ about how love, grace, courage and compassion are moving to our soul and give us life.

We may not find an answer straight away and the only thing we have to do is to trust in God and trust that it all will be well.

It can be helpful to look back at our past seeing the obstacles we overcame. Where was Christ then? How did we get the strength to achieve what we have achieved?

What have we learned by being in the dark?

Like the two men in the story sometimes we are prevented from seeing Jesus walking with us in our struggle because he wants us to trust him through our faith.

Jesus Christ wants us to see him through the eyes of the people we meet.

He encourages us to be his disciples by learning when we see darkness.

We learn to forgive when we have something to forgive,
we learn to trust in him when we are lost,
we make sacrificial love when we have something to sacrifice,
we learn to be compassionate when we encounter people who suffer,
we are disciples of Christ when we accept things that we can’t change,
we are disciples of Christ when we are changing things for the benefit of others.

As Jesus appears through the breaking of the bread, Christ is within us and with all creation.

Christ is when we are united through the Eucharist where we receive him in unison and celebrate the gift of our redemption through his sacrifice

Christ is revealed to us through those who listen when we need a shoulder to cry on, through those who support us in everyday life, through those who need our help – our family, our community. Jesus is in our children and in our future generations, in our wrong and right doing, in our learning, moving from the darkness into Joy.

In our heart, in our soul and the universe.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
whenever He May send you.
May He guide you through the wildness,
Protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing once again into your doors
In the name of the Father and the Son and of The Holy Spirit