Today, we are being invited
to accompany two companions on their way to Emmaus, a town approximately
6-7 miles from Jerusalem [Lk.24:13-35]. The first companion is
Cleophas. According to Hegesippus' record, he may have been the brother of Joseph,
Mary’s husband. This theory is supported by St Jerome. The Church History by Eusbuius of Caesarea
written in 324 AD notes the second
companion was Simon, the son of Cleophas.
Both were members of the chosen 70 sent out to preach
the Coming of the Kingdom. They were
very sad and depressed on the suffering and death of Jesus literally
heartbroken.
Another stranger has joined
us on this journey. His eyes locked onto
ours.
We could not recognize him so
heavy were our hearts.
As we walked along this
stranger began to review all the scriptures beginning with Moses and all the
prophets. How did He get this
knowledge? As He spoke
within us.
As we reached Cleophas' home in Emmaus, he
invited the stranger to join us for a supper meal.
As He blessed the bread at the table, our physical eyes were opened wide and we
truly recognized Him as Jesus our friend and savior and our joy and
gratitude overflowed. Then He vanished
from our sight.
We knew we had to return to
Jerusalem this very night and let the others know
what had taken place and that
Jesus had truly risen within the 3 days as promised.
Other thoughts to ponder:
1.
How do we welcome
those who accompany us in our daily duties?
2.
Do we walk with
another in pain and in sorrow?
3.
As we meet Jesus
in disguise, how long before we recognize Him?
4.
Cleophas means
“proclaimer” in Greek. How will we
proclaim Jesus?
In Pope Francis Easter Vigil's homily,
He stated: “To celebrate Easter is to
believe once more that God constantly breaks into our
personal histories, challenging our
conventions and our fixed ways of thinking
and acting that could end up paralyzing us.”
Let us joyfully ‘celebrate
Easter’
Sr. Joan Gripshover, OSB
Dear Sister, thank you for presenting this wonderful passage, truly it is a gift from God. We knew it was Jesus when he blessed the bread. What did we see? Was he for an instant transfigured before us? We saw him as he had been before Friday, in our minds, in fullness in the figure before us? Jesus is not homo sapiens at this point. He has flesh and bone but is in some sense in heaven. Did we see the Father there? It would be too much for us. We must see the Father in his gentle servant, who is called his son, but is more than that of course. The descriptions are not enough for God. We can only know a part. I'm so glad that we are given various levels to understand the teaching. Happy Easter OSB God bless!
ReplyDeletethank you for your reflections, Sr Joan. This has always been one of my most favorite parts of the Gospel. Ruth Traut
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