Apr 10: Food for the Journey Through Life

Pontormo: The Meal in Emmaus
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 1530

Third Sunday of Easter

Gospel: Lk 24:13-35

When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us (NRSV, Lk 24:30-32)?”

Father, every Sunday, as we celebrate the Eucharist with you, we are like the disciples on the way to Emmaus. As we listen to the Word proclaimed, it is Jesus himself, the Word made flesh, who unlocks for us a fuller meaning of the Scripture. As we break Bread together, we are those same disciples, gather around the table in the inn, with our eyes on the Lord. In the Bread and the Cup, Jesus gives us his very life to share, the same life that is offered to everyone at every moment at the depth of our being, but now shared with us in a way that is tangible and visible.

Father, encountering Jesus as he taught them concerning Holy Writ and shared himself with them in the blessing of Bread, the disciples on the way to Emmaus came to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and a fuller meaning of the journey that is human life. Help us, Father, in the celebration of the Eucharist and indeed at every moment to grow in that same understanding that guides us on our continuing journey to you.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.