* 3rd Easter (A), April 6, 2008
* Theme: They Recognized Him in the Breaking of the Bread

* The Gospel reading today presents a setting similar to that which we experience in our own lives of faith:
* Life is a wonderful gift of God for which we are all grateful.
* We all have hopes and dreams for ourselves and our families.
* However, sometimes the burdens of life can become so heavy that we get discouraged and depressed and want to give up.
*
* We were taught as children to face challenges in our life by determination:
* “Keep your nose to the grindstone”—a dictum drummed into our heads.
* The implication being, that diligence and hard work can surmount difficulties
* We do have within ourselves the necessary resources to overcome most of what life throws in our way.
* But not every obstacle can be hurdled simply by hard work and determination.
* “I’ve come to the end of my rope,” sometimes is the dictum that makes the most sense.

* In Luke’s account today, the two disciples are leaving Jerusalem.
* They had been caught up in the experience of following Jesus, and they were devastated by his crucifixion.
* Their dreams of a new life for themselves, their families, their religion and their very nation also died with the crucifixion of Jesus.
* You can hear their shattered lives in what they tell the Stranger who joins them on their journey, “We had hoped….”

* We too hear people start sentences that way -
* “We had hoped that our kids would continue their college studies, but….”
* “We had hoped that going to marriage counseling would save the marriage, but….”
* “We had hoped that the experimental drug would help conquer the cancer, but….
* “No need to continue, we can all fill in the blanks—
(cf. Jude Siciliano)
* “We had hoped….,” but it does not seem to be working out the way we planned

* The Stranger the disciples find walking with them seems to understand much about their situation.
* He makes the connection between their situation and their Scriptures,
* But they are not able to make the connection between what he says and who he is.
* It is only in welcoming him into their house and sharing a meal with him that they realize who it is they are facing:
* It is Jesus, the risen Lord.
* They are so moved by the encounter that they turn around and head back to Jerusalem, to join up with the other disciples but also to face risk and uncertainty.
* (cf. Gerald Darring, liturgy. SLU.edu)

* We need our hopes nourished as well.
* Sometimes we need encouragement, clear thinking and the support of a believing and hoping community.
* We need the Word of God and the Eucharist.

* This is why Jesus opens the scriptures for the dispirited disciples on their journey and why he gathers them to pause with him and to break bread
* Like them, we constantly need our eyes opened to see Jesus alive and with us—in the Word and the Sacrament.
* But remember, the disciples did not just continue on their journey with their hopes renewed,
* Rather after their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus,
* They returned to the community to discover that the Risen Christ had appeared among them too.
* That is where we also discover him—-risen and in the midst of the community.

* The Emmaus Story is our story.
* It is what we celebrate at Mass
* We read and hear the Scriptures broken open
* We share the Eucharist together
* We carry the message away with us to share it with others
* It is how we as Christians want to live out our lives.

* Jesus opened the Scriptures to them.
* “Were not our hearts burning within us as he spoke to us along the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
* Do we let the Scriptures touch our hearts?
* Maybe by reflecting on them before Mass begins

* They recognized him in the breaking of the bread
* We Break the Bread:
* In Eucharist – One community in the Body and Blood of the Lord
* In Social Services to minister – We break bread for others and recognize the presence of Jesus.
* In our School and CCD program -
We break bread for our children and open the Scriptures so that they can recognize Jesus in their midst.
* Sometimes we don’t break the bread, rather sometimes we feel as if it is we who have been broken.
* Then we offer the pieces of our broken lives to the Lord so that God can put us back together.
* Here we recognize that Jesus is the bread broken for us.

* Let us continue with our Liturgy:
* Finding Jesus in the Word of Scripture
* Recognizing Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread
* Ready to bring the Good News to a world in desperate need of it

* Amen

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