Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year A

Jesus Celebrates His First Post-Resurrection Mass 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, April 23, 2023

The story of the two disciples of Jesus on the road to Emmaus is a masterpiece within the masterpiece. One is named, (Cleopas), but the other is not. Who is Cleopas? He was the uncle of Jesus. John’s Gospel says, “Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, Mary, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene,” (19:25). So Cleopas was Jesus’ uncle, and according to the early Church Fathers, Cleopas was the father of James, Simon, and Jude, the men who were called Jesus’ “brothers,” that is his cousins. The historian, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea who wrote in AD 180 said that when he interviewed the grandsons of Jude the Apostle, he learned that Cleopas was the brother of Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So, Cleopas was Jesus’ uncle and a pretty important figure in the Early Church. He, Cleopas and the other unnamed disciple were leaving Jerusalem and traveling to a town seven miles away from the capital called Emmaus. Metaphorically speaking, this is a journey away from salvation. How come? Everything was happening in Jerusalem. Jesus went to Jerusalem, that’s where he was crucified; that’s where the Resurrection happened; that’s where the coming of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) happened. Jerusalem is the center; it is where the Early Church had gathered. But these two disciples were walking away from salvation. Like all of us sinners, Cleopas and his companion were walking in the wrong direction. Yet, the Lord God comes to walk with them. He disguises himself and prevents them from recognizing him. Is Jesus trying to distance himself from them? Not at all! He wants to gradually lure them back into discipleship. 

He begins with a question, “What are you discussing as you walk along? Responding Cleopas asks his own question, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” Once again, Jesus follows with another question, “What sort of things?” Finally, Cleopas provides data of an actual event: “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…” Cleopas doesn’t say, “the things that happened to Jesus the Messiah” or  “Jesus the Son of God.” He refers to Jesus as, a prophet. What’s happening to Cleopas’ faith here? He has lost it! He no longer believes that Jesus is the Messiah. Like so many people in our time, he has reduced Jesus to the level of a prophet, a mighty man, a miracle worker sent from God, but not the Messiah. More to it, he goes on to say, “we had hoped (That’s past tense) that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and now it is the third day that he was put to death. In other words, there is no hope of that anymore. After that, Cleopas goes on to say, “Some women from our group 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.” What’s Cleopas doing here? He is bringing another dimension, the fact of the empty tomb. Cleopas is leaving Jerusalem. He is turning his back on the place that Jesus had died; he is turning his back on the hope they had and going to Emmaus. Even though he knows about the empty tomb, even though some of the women had reported the apparition of the angels announcing that Jesus is risen, he still doesn’t believe. At this stage, the Risen Christ has heard enough. Turning to his disciples, he says 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?” 

Jesus called them fools for their lack of faith. He does not rebuke them for not knowing the Scripture, but for not believing the Scripture. As Jews, they would have known the Old Testament Scriptures, the problem is that they don’t believe. They are lacking faith in what the Scriptures say. But after rebuking them, Jesus does not leave them in their confusion, doubt and unbelief. He meets them where they are— in their brokenness, lack of faith, sadness, doubt etc. and basically begins a Bible Study. He goes all the way back to Genesis, beginning with Moses and the prophets, he interprets to them in the Scripture all the things concerning himself. Why is this so important? It gives us the model of how to do Bible Study and how to teach the Word of God. Scripture begins with the Old Testament, precisely with Genesis. When you read the Old Testament, look for signs and shadows that point forward to what God is going to do in Jesus Christ. Interpret your reading typologically. What’s typology? It is the study of Old Testament prefigurations, events, reality, signs and symbols that point forward to and are fulfilled in the New Testament in the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus. That’s how Jesus interprets the Bible. The problem today is that many of us only read the New Testament. We start in the New Testament, and never go back to the Old. And because of that, we don’t see the connection between the Old and the New Testament. We don’t see how the New Testament is hidden in the Old, and how the Old is revealed in the New. But that’s what we need to see if we are going to have faith that Jesus is not one more messianic pretender, or one more religious leader making all kinds of wild claims about himself. The claims he makes about himself are validated and vindicated by the prophecies of the Old Testament. The types of the Old Testament that he fulfills in himself like the New Adam, or the New Moses, or the New David. I agree that reading the Old Testament is not as exciting as reading the New. But Jesus’ method of doing Bible Study began by going back to the Old Testament. That’s how Jesus evangelized his disciples who had lost their faith in the face of the scandal of the cross. 

After the long Bible Study, about two and half hours, Jesus does not stop there. As Cleopas and the other disciple got closer to the village they were intending to go, Jesus indicates he would be going further, but the disciples plead with him, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” Imagine walking with the Risen Jesus and having him explain the Scriptures and how they point to him. I will give everything I have just to be there. Now, we don’t really know exactly what Jesus said to Cleopas and his companion, but we know how they reacted: they did not want him to stop talking. When dinner time arrives, in their presence, Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them. Deliciously, their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Then he disappears from their sight. After his disappearance, they said to each other, let me paraphrase it, “No wonder, our hearts were burning within us as he speaks and interprets the Scriptures to us along the way.” With their faith boosted, convinced that Jesus is truly risen, they hurriedly returned to Jerusalem, meaning they returned to faith and salvation and became witnesses of the Resurrection. They rejoined the Evangelization Team. 

When did this event happen? The evening of Easter Sunday, the actual day of the Resurrection of Jesus. It indicates that these two disciples were really in haste to forget about Jesus and then move on with their lives. Notice that at the table, Jesus did four things: he took the bread; he blessed the bread; he broke the bread, and he gave the bread. In Luke’s Gospel, the last time that Jesus took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread and gave the bread was at the Last Supper. So, in this Emmaus event, Jesus re-enacted the same thing he did on Holy Thursday when he instituted the Eucharist before his Apostles. Cleopas and his companion recognized the Risen Lord at the breaking of the bread. But why did Jesus vanish? Was it a magic trick? Why would he do that to them after they had urged him, “Stay with us?” The answer is simple but also profound. He is trying to direct their eyes, their vision to the way he is going to be with them from now on, which is in the Eucharist itself, in the breaking of the Bread. Jesus did answer their prayers. They asked him to stay with them and he does stay with them but now in a different way. It is not going to be in his earthly body, in his local presence. He is now going to come to them under the appearance of the Bread, under the appearance of the Eucharist so that he can be with them always till the end of time. He is going to be present in a way that is not limited to one location and one place. He can be in a tiny village in Africa, and in a big city in America. He can be in Africa, in Europe, in North America, in Asia and everywhere in the breaking of the Bread. And you can say that this is the first Mass that Jesus celebrates after his Resurrection, and these two disciples were so fortunate to be part of it. 

In Jesus’ Risen Body, he is no longer bound by space. In Jesus’ Glorified Body, he is no longer bound by time. He can walk through walls, as we saw him do when he appeared to his disciples in the upper room and said to them, “Shalom.” He can hide his appearance as we saw him do in his encounter with Cleopas and his companion. In the Eucharist, Jesus is also hiding his appearance. He is coming to us but hiding his appearance. He is coming to us under the appearance of Bread and Wine. There is another key factor that needs to be pointed out. If you notice, there are two major things that Jesus did before these two disciples. First, he reads the Scriptures to them starting with the Old Testament and explains them. Second, he sets the table. He takes the take, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them. Do those two acts sound very familiar to you? Yes! Those are the two fundamental parts of the Mass. The Church says that the fundamental structures of the Mass consist of two great parts; first, the liturgy of the Word. Here we gather, sing, the readings from the Old Testament and the New Testament are read to us and explained to us in the homily. The second part is the liturgy of the Eucharist. Here, we have the offertory, the Eucharistic prayer, and communion. So, in every Mass, we are reliving and participating in the mystery of the Mass, the same experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. 

Why am I making this last point? There is a tendency among some Catholics to mentally check out during the liturgy of the Word. When the readings are being read, they don’t listen. When the priest or deacon is preaching, they don’t listen. They simply check out. Either they complain that the preaching is poor, doesn’t relate to them or that it is too long. There is a parishioner who usually attends the 5 PM Mass and who has formed the habit of “tormenting” me with the complaint that I preach long. Whenever he approaches me after Mass, it is always to say, “Father, you preach well, but it is long. Can you make it briefer?” After masking my annoyance repeatedly, I finally say to him, “No sir, I can’t and won’t!” Some Catholics believe that the only reason they come to Mass is to receive the Eucharist. When Fr. Huy Steven Vu was here in our parish, he told me about a disappointing conversation he had with a parishioner. In that conversation, this parishioner said, “I come to Mass to receive the Eucharist and nothing more.” What happens to such people is that when the readings are proclaimed, they check out. They become distracted easily. When the homily is being proclaimed, they drift away and don’t pay attention. If you do this, you are missing a fundamental part. You are like a soccer fan who walks into the stadium at the second half of a match. You miss an entire first half. Listen now, everybody. The only reason the two disciples who went to Emmaus were able to see Jesus in the breaking of the bread, is because he already prepared their hearts by teaching them through the word, by unpacking the Scriptures, by opening the Scriptures and leading them back to faith through a typology between the Old Testament and the New. That’s what gave them faith to be able to recognize him in the mystery of the breaking of the bread. You will do well to pay attention, to listen carefully to the liturgy of the Word. Not just the Eucharist alone. It is the liturgy of the Word that is going to stir up our hearts to see Jesus in the breaking of the Bread because He is invisible. It does not look like Jesus; it looks like bread and wine, but he is actually present in his Glorified Body, in his Resurrected Body. 

God bless you!