Third Sunday of Easter A2026

Acts 2: 14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1: 17-21; Luke 24: 13-35

The passion and death of our Lord Jesus were not accidental, but part of God’s eternal plan. By accepting to suffer and die on the cross, our Lord was fulfilling the prophecy and his Father was giving to the world the proof of his love. However, that understanding was a slow process in the mind of the apostles. It took a lot of time for them to pass from ignorance to the knowledge of the scriptures about Jesus. Nowhere is that evident in the Bible than in the story of the disciples of Emmaus.

As the Gospel relates, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were disappointed about what happened to them with the death of our Lord. They hoped that he would do something for their nation, but things did not go as expected. By returning to their village with all their concerns, it was as though their dream was dead.

By talking on the road, they were certainly worried and bitter, as it can happen to anyone of us when life seems to be cruel and expectations are destroyed by the negative winds of life. That can happen at the occasion of a loss of work, a divorce or the death of a loved one. At the same time, the two friends were blinded by their bitterness and sorrow for having lost Jesus.

And yet, our Lord was there walking with them in this dark and sad moment of their life; but they did not recognize him. As an unknown companion of the road, he tried to wake them up from the sleep of their sadness by explaining to them the scripture about him. If God is the master of everything and of every life, is it not true that what happened to Jesus was known to him?

Then came a moment of truth and revelation: the meal. The meal has been always a wonderful moment of sitting together with people, sharing with them a little bit of who we are and what they are. A meal is a privileged moment of approaching people and of spending some time with them in order to know them a little bit better.

O! Yes, that is what happened when our Lord broke the bread in a gesture that reminded them of him. At that time, the risen Christ opened their eyes to recognize him in the breaking of the bread.

True enough. It was not any companion who talked to them on the road, but Jesus himself who was walking with them and explained to them the meaning of the scriptures. They realized that their hearts were burning when he was talking to them, healing the wounds of their sorrow and bitterness. And when they went back to Jerusalem to report to the apostles what happened to them, our Lord appeared again, confirming what they already knew, that he is alive.

The story of the disciples of Emmaus is a story of each of us with all the vicissitudes and twists of our lives. Sometimes we are so beaten down with problems, worries and disappointments, that we do not see anything else than our sadness and sorrow.

When we find ourselves in such a situation, we really feel alone. We believe that we are abandoned by all, friends, family and even God. And yet, we are not alone. God is always with us, sharing with us all these sad moments of our life. That is what our Lord wanted to teach the two friends as they were talking among themselves about their disappointments and broken dreams.

At this level, the important question is this: when we are overwhelmed with problems, where do we find strength in order to cope with them? Here, Jesus teaches us that it is in the word of God that we can find healing, consolation and relief when we are down. The two friends have experienced that when our Lord was explaining the scriptures to them, their hearts were burning.

Literally it means that they felt lifted up from their sadness and bitterness as though a medicine was poured on a wound. That is what the word of God does when we offer our problems to the Lord. Not that they are over once and for all, but at least we know that we are not alone to bear them, because God accompanies us.

Let me finish now by referring to the meal through which the two friends recognized Jesus. That meal is the symbol of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Christ gives himself to us as food in order to strengthen us on our pilgrimage. If we have the eyes of faith, we can recognize our Lord coming to us in order to console us and encourage us to keep going and fighting in this journey of life. In a few minutes, we will come to the table of Eucharist. Let us remember that it is our Lord himself we receive in order to continue to live. Let us ask Christ to guide us in this journey until the day we meet him in heaven and share with him in the eternal banquet of heaven. Amen.

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© 2026 Rev. Felicien Ilunga Mbala
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