In the Gospel narratives, there is a flow that moves from Galilee, where Jesus began his public ministry, to Jerusalem where his earthly mission was consummated in glory. This is reflected in the Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. It was Jerusalem, where he entered triumphantly on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11//Mark 11:1-11//Luke 19:28-44 and John 12:12-19). It was in this holy city, where he hosted the Lord’s Supper, instituting the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (Matthew 26:17-30//Mark 14:12-26//Luke 22:7-39) and giving the new commandment of love (John 13:31-35). And it was Jerusalem where he entered the passion and died to take away our sins as the Lamb of God, the ultimate Paschal Lamb (e.g. John 18:1-19:42; 1:29). Jerusalem is also where Jesus resurrected on the third day from his death on the Cross (Matthew 28:1-10//Mark 16:1-8, 9-14 //Luke 24:1-44 and John 20:1-29). And it was where he ordered the disciples to stay before his ascension to heaven until the descending of the Holy Spirit upon them on Pentecost (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5). So the First Reading (Acts 2:14, 22-33), an excerpt of Peter’s powerful speech on Pentecost, shows how the post-resurrection and Pentecost apostolic action began in Jerusalem – not elsewhere and how Peter explains who Jesus is, in reference to the Scriptures (Psalm 16:8-11; 2 Samuel 7:12; Psalm 132:11).
Matthew and Mark give an account that Jesus would have
wanted the disciples to see him in Galilee (Matthew 28:7,10; Mark 16:7). And in
John’s Gospel, risen Jesus actually met Peter and other disciples while they
were on the boats fishing (John 21:1-14). But, Galilee was not where the
disciples should stay. The post
resurrection actions begin in Jerusalem, as it is where everything about the
Christological truth in Paschal Mystery of Jesus was unfolding to and where the
post-resurrrection Pentecost action began, as we move from the Gospels to the
Acts of the Apostles.
So, in the Gospel Reading of the Third Sunday of
Paschaltide (Luke 24:13-35), why were Cleopas and the other disciples going
away from Jerusalem to Emmaus, while the rest of the disciples remained in
Jerusalem?
Apparently, these two disciples were going a wrong
way, because they were blind to the Christological truth in Paschal Mystery,
accentuated with Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection, to fulfill the fourth
servant song in the Book of Isaiah, as foretold by Jesus himself multiple
times. They seemed to have lost their
hope and faith in Jesus, upon his death. They were in heavy grief and dismay.
So, they left Jerusalem.
But wait a minute! If the resurrection of Jesus would
have ended with such a sad story of the disciples, what would be a point of
Christianity and Christian faith?
Risen Jesus will not let such lost disciples go
further into darkness, just because they were ignorant and blind.
And the Gospel Reading of the Third Sunday of
Paschaltide (Luke 24:3-35) describes how risen Jesus redeem these two lost
disciples with the Word and with the Eucharist, by meeting where they were. The
Gospel story reminds that Jesus is, indeed, our Good Shepherd, who not only has
laid his life to save us but also to reach out to redeem his lost sheep back to
his one herd, which has become the Church, one body of Christ.
Because of the Word and the Eucharist reflections in
this Gospel Reading, there is a motif of Mass – Mass in motion of redemption
and transformation. Before Mass, the two
disciples were lost. But after Mass, they were found and on fire to announce
the good news of the resurrection.
Mass shall be celebrated at where there are pastoral
needs are. Our one holy catholic apostolic Church is not a static and
bureaucratic institution but the living Church, the very living body of Christ,
constituted with us, the faithful. Therefore, wherever the Church is, there is
living Christ with us, in us, and us in him, as one body with him as the head.
The Gospel Reading of the Third Sunday of Paschaltide
(Luke 24:13-35) described how the first post-resurrection Mass was carried out
to redeem the two disciples, who let their hope and faith go dwindled, if not
necessarily lost, by enlightening their ignorant minds through the Word and by
nourishing their bodies and souls with the Eucharist. As a result, their hope
and faith are restored and placed back in God. And they were redeemed into the
one heard with the rest of the disciples to share the good news of Jesus’
resurrection in Jerusalem.
In this regard, this Gospel narrative also prepares us
for the next Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Paschaltide, Good Shepherd Sunday,
because we see risen Jesus as the Good Shepherd, who redeems his lost sheep and
brings them back to his heard.
*****
Jesus is risen from the dead, upon his suffering and
death (e.g. John 18:1-19:42), fulfilling the Scripture (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).
So, our hope and faith shall be in God for the Lord in glory (1 Peter 1:21).
But for Cleopas and the other disciple, walking toward Emmaus from Jerusalem,
on the day of the resurrection, their hope and faith seemed to be lost or faded,
as they looked downcast (Luke 24:17).
They must have heard from Mary Magdalene and other
women, who announced the resurrection of Jesus to them, as told by two angels,
who looked like men, but did not believe it because it seemed nonsense (Luke
24:1-7). So, they were in grief and dismay, thinking that Jesus was dead.
Period. Perhaps, out of disappointment on Jesus, Cleopas and the other
disciples decided to leave Jerusalem and go on their own lives, walking to
Emmaus and talking about all the things about Jesus and what happened to him
(Luke 24:13-14).
Then, risen Jesus joined these two disciples in their
conversation, asking what they were talking about (Luke 24:15).
Not recognizing him as risen Jesus (Luke 24:16),
Cleopas and the other disciples were amazed that he had no clue as to what was
happening in Jerusalem in the past few days (Luke 24:17). So Cleopas explained
to risen Jesus what happened to Jesus: being handed over to the Roman
authorities by religious leaders, tried by Pilate, scourged, and crucified to death (Luke
24:18-21). He also told risen Jesus what Mary Magdalene and other women, who
went to the tomb of Jesus early in the morning, told them, about the empty tomb
without Jesus’ body and vision of angels, who announced the resurrection (Luke
24:22-23). He also told risen Jesus that Peter and John went to the tomb and
confirmed that Jesus’ tomb was empty (Luke 24:24; John 20:3-10).
To all of this, risen Jesus responded, saying:
Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not
necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
(Luke 24:25-26).
Jesus pointed out how ignorant Cleopas and the other
disciple were to the Christological truth in his Paschal Mystery: the Messiah
is not to redeem Israel from the Roman occupation as a political king (i.e.
John 18:33-38) but to redeem both Israelites and Gentiles from sin’s bonds to
death into his Kingdom (Colossians 1:13-14). These disciples were, indeed, fool
to have regarded the Messiah as a political king (Luke 24:21). It was their
foolishness and ignorance that kept them blind to risen Jesus, even when he was
walking with them and speaking to them directly.
Upon reminding them that Jesus of Nazareth, the
Christ, had to suffer and die to rise in glory, risen Jesus explained the whole
Tanakh from the Torah to Navi’im and Ketuvim, in terms of him (Luke 24:27).
These disciples definitely needed to have the Scriptures taught by risen Jesus.
And this set their hearts on fire (Luke 24:32).
When they came near to Emmaus, risen Jesus seemed to keep going further. But these
two disciples urged him to stay with them for the evening, as it was near
sunset (Luke 24:29). And Jesus accepted their invitation (Luke 24:29).
At supper, risen Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke
it, and began to give it to these two disciples (Luke 24:30). It was then that
the disciples’ eyes finally opened and recognize that the man who had been
walking with them and talking to them, explaining the Scriptures, was, indeed,
risen Jesus (Luke 24:31). And he suddenly disappeared from their sight because
they became able to recognize him (Luke 24:31).
This was not an end. It was just the beginning for
them to engage in a mission.
Risen Jesus did not need to tell these two disciples
verbally to tell the rest of the disciples in Jerusalem about their encounter
with him (Luke 24:33-35).
*****
On their way to Emmaus, risen Jesus opened the two
disciples’ hearts and set them on fire (Luke 24:32). At Emmaus, he opened their
eyes to recognize him at the dinner table, taking up bread, giving thanks,
breaking it, and giving it to them (Luke 24:31), just as he did at the last
Passover Seder on the night before his death, proclaiming that the broken bread
was his body given to them (Luke 22:19). In other words, the two disciples
received the Word on their way to Emmaus and the Body of Christ in Emmaus by
risen Jesus, who is the eternal Great High Priest in the order of Melchizedek
(Hebrews 4:14-5:10; 7:11-28) and of a new covenant (Hebrews 8:1-13). And these
two disciple’s journey to Emmaus with risen Jesus was, indeed, the first
post-resurrection Mass, with the Liturgy of the Word, followed by the Liturgy
of the Eucharist.
Ite,
Missa est. When Mass is over, we are called to go in peace and
proclaim the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, these two disciples ran back to where the rest of
the disciples in Jerusalem, forgetting about whatever the plan they had in
Emmaus and wherever they would go from there. And they shared with them their
amazing encounter with risen Jesus.
It was indeed a walking Mass, from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
This makes our Church mobile, truly apostolic, not static. It is because the
Church is made alive with risen Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Accompanied by risen Jesus, who is truly the Parakletos(1 John 2:1), which literally
means, “make a call (kaleo) to be besides
(para)”, it was not just a journey but moving Mass, from Jerusalem to Emmaus, because
risen the eternal High Priest of Melchizedek as order was present as risen
Jesus. He fed Cleopas and the other disciple with the Word and the Eucharist.
So they were enlightened and nourished to be send out to bring a message on his
resurrection to the rest of the disciples. Through this mobile Mass, their
lives were transformed.
Even if we might not yet found or encountered risen
Jesus, not recognizing him yet, even if we could go on a wrong way of life, let
us not lose our hope and faith, because he will find us wherever we may be and
redeem us back to his herd- so that we will be one with him.
No comments:
Post a Comment