Season of Joy

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. ...

The incredibly rich gospel, on this third Sunday of Easter, begins with the words “That very day…” So let's start by remembering what day this was for the two disciples walking to Emmaus.

These men had just heard from some of the women that Jesus' tomb was empty. That an angel had appeared to them saying,

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

The women had run back to tell the rest of the Apostles the good news. But the Apostles did not believe them. And now these two are getting out of town. They are headed away from Jerusalem, where their hopes were dashed. They do not understand that Jesus has fulfilled the Scripture and defeated death as he himself tells them on the road.

These disciples are walking away from it all. I find it incredibly hopeful that it is to these two people that Jesus appears and He asks them a question, “What are you discussing?”

Jesus sees their sadness and enters into it by listening. They pour their hearts out and he answers by explaining to them the very things they have not understood. He does this while remaining unrecognizable to the two disciples. This hiddeness and later revelation is a hallmark of the resurrection stories, and I believe it is how God works with us.

In any number of ways, God uses a seemingly strange messenger, and later our eyes are opened to God's presence. About ten years ago, I made a discernment retreat with Benedictine sisters. Each day I met with a compassionate and wise elderly sister for spiritual direction. Still in college at the time, I was thinking a lot about what God wanted from me.

Should I enter religious life?

Get married and have a family?

Go into the world as a missionary?

Near the end of the retreat God still hadn't told me what he wanted me to do. I had fully expected him to speak to me through this wise sister I was meeting with. But then I decided to take a walk through a meadow of flowers. This was not a prayer walk, but a way to get out of the discernment for a minute. And this is when God spoke to me unexpectedly.

On this walk, I was suddenly captivated by a tiny little flower growing out of the path. It was so small. As I bent down to look at it, I noticed there were little holes all over the petals, but it struck me as just about the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And all of a sudden, I felt Jesus looking at me like I was looking at the flower; looking at me with love—holes and all.

And what I heard then was the most important message I have ever received: “There is nothing about you that I do not love.”

The thought occurred to me so unexpectedly and clearly that there was no doubt in my mind of it being from God. And I was allowed to really receive God’s unconditional, relentless, undeserved, love for me. The joy of receiving that truth was overwhelming. I wanted to run through this silent retreat and shout it out to each person. There is nothing about you that God does not love.

In that moment, I knew exactly what it meant when the disciples on the road to Emmaus said “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road; while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

When we have an encounter with the risen Jesus, our hearts burn within us. And then we recognize Him, like the disciples at Emmaus in the breaking of the bread. In fact, every time we approach the Eucharist, we approach the risen Jesus, reaching out to us in love, saying, “This is my body given for you because there is nothing about you that I do not love.”

And what is our response?

The disciples on the road to Emmaus change course. They go back to Jerusalem. They tell their friends what they've seen and heard; that the good news is true. Jesus has risen. But today's gospel stops a verse short. But what happens next?

As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace to you.”

This is our calling as Easter people. Absorb the good news. Jesus loves you so much that he suffered, died, and rose for you. Next, tell everyone.

Finally, see Jesus among you in every place where you proclaim the good news in word and deed. Alleluia. He has risen.