The Third Sunday of Easter [A]
Acts 2:14,22-33  +  1 Peter 1:17-21  +  Luke 24:13-35
St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, Garden Plain, KS
April 19, 2026

St. Luke the Evangelist explains at the start of today’s Gospel passage that it’s set on “[t]hat very day, the first day of the week”.  This is another way of saying that today’s Gospel passage is set on the day of Jesus’ Resurrection.

On that original Easter Sunday, “two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus”.  These two disciples symbolize you and me.  Like these two disciples, you and I at times wander away from God.  In the Gospel passage, the two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem.  They are walking away from the scene of Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  In other words, they’re moving on with their lives.  Though they’ve heard some rumor that Jesus was still alive, they have not put any faith in the story.  After all, they’re walking away from Jerusalem:  away from any chance of encountering this Jesus who supposedly had risen from the dead.

So we need to ask:  how often are we like these two disciples?  Rather than holding fast to our faith and making it the center of our lives, we walk away from opportunities to encounter Jesus.  In today’s Gospel passage, we hear that these two disciples were “conversing and debating… about all the things that had occurred” the past several days.  In other words, they’re talking about Jesus, but they’re also walking away from Jesus.

Yet while these two doubting disciples were walking away from Jerusalem, what happened?  “Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them”.  Here we see Jesus acting as the Good Shepherd.  Next Sunday we will hear Jesus describe Himself as the Good Shepherd who seeks out those who have wandered away from Him.  But today, we see Jesus living out this mission.  We see Jesus acting as the Good Shepherd.

Now, to put what Jesus is doing here into perspective, consider:  when the events of today’s Gospel Reading start, how many thousands of Jesus’ flock are dwelling within the gates of Jerusalem?  Yet here is Jesus, walking seven miles out of His way in order to bring these two wandering sheep back through the Sheepgate, and back into the fold.

Reflecting upon today’s Gospel passage, we ought to take comfort if we ourselves sometimes wander away from Him and His teachings.  We can take comfort in the fact that the patience, compassion, and love which Jesus shows to these two doubting disciples are the very same patience, compassion, and love that He has for each of us.  It does not matter where or how far we might wander away.  He seeks us out.

In today’s Gospel passage, the Good Shepherd asks these two straying sheep, “What are you discussing as you walk along?”  These disciples do not recognize their Good Shepherd, or know His voice.  So they recount to Him what their hope had been:  “that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel.”  

Here’s a key point.  The doubting disciples believe that their hope has been shattered.  They believe this because Jesus had died.  The death of Jesus shattered their hope.  It seems obvious to these doubting disciples that someone who has died can do nothing for anyone. 

Against their false belief about their shattered hope, Jesus speaks harshly:  “Oh, how foolish you are!  How slow of heart to believe….  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?”  Jesus is directing His disciples’ attention to one of the most important truths of the Gospel.

The Cross—the death of Jesus—cannot destroy our hope.  Instead, the Cross of Jesus IS our hope.  That is why we put the crucifix on display in our homes, in our workplaces, and above the very center of our sanctuaries.  The crucifix is the visual expression of the truth that’s at the heart of our Catholic Faith:  that Christ’s death is our life.

So then Jesus goes through the entire body of Jewish Scripture with these doubting disciples.  He “interpreted to them what referred to Him” in the Old Testament.  He showed them that the Christ would have to suffer death in order to be “the one to redeem Israel”, and not only Israel, but—in time—the entire world.

The doubting disciples, now starting to believe, invite this man—still unknown to them—to stay with them once they reach their goal.  But this man, the Risen Lord, has another goal in mind.  He stays with them, but “while He was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” 

These four actions of Jesus—taking bread, saying the blessing over it, breaking it, and giving it to the disciples—might sound like ordinary actions.  However, when we compare this verse from today’s Gospel passage to St. Luke’s account of the Last Supper, we see that the language is the same.  St. Luke, in describing Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper, uses these same four phrases.

This connection between the Eucharist that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper and His actions at Emmaus in today’s Gospel passage is made even more clear by the last sentence of today’s Gospel passage:  “the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”  This same phrase—“the breaking of the bread”—also occurs in the fifth book of the New Testament, Acts of the Apostles.  In Acts of the Apostles, the phrase “the breaking of the bread” describes the early Church’s celebration of the Eucharist.  St. Luke the Evangelist, the author of today’s Gospel passage, was also the author of Acts of the Apostles.

So when Jesus towards the end of today’s Gospel passage takes bread, says the blessing, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples, we reach the goal of today’s Gospel passage.

“With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him”.  They recognized Jesus in the Eucharist.  Here is the sacrament that is the center of our Catholic Faith.  In the Holy Eucharist, God is with us in the Flesh.  In the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is made present in our midst.

However, if you recognize Christ in the Eucharist, who is it exactly that you consider Him to be?  Is Christ only a good shepherd, drawing you closer to His side for comfort and protection?  He wants to be even more for you.  Is Christ only a teacher, interpreting the Scriptures for you?  He wants to be even more for you.  The Messiah who suffered and died for you on the Cross is also your Lord and your God.  He is the One who created you, and the One who wants to lead you along His Way.

How often do we wonder during the week if God is with us?  How often during the week do we feel like God has abandoned us?  In fact, He is always there for us:  we simply do not recognize His Presence in our midst.  How often do we feel weak and unable to live up to the demands of our Christian Faith?  Here in the Eucharist is the greatest source of all our spiritual strength.  Jesus wants us to worthily receive His Body and Blood, in order to receive the graces that we need to be loving during the week both to God and neighbor, loving with the same depth of love with which God loves each of us.