Road to Emmaus by He Qi

The daily Mass readings for the Wednesday in the Octave of Easter includes the well-known account of two travelers on the road to Emmaus. Earlier this week I included a commentary on the passage. This morning in Mass I offered a few thoughts on the passage.

It seems to me that we all have plans. It is my experience that those plans never unfold quite as we had planned.  Some are side-tracked, some laid aside for other plans, others fall away forgotten or unused, and some are part of disappointment, discouragement, or a life slipping off the rails.

The two travelers on the road to Emmaus had their own plans tied into their hopes and desires surrounding Jesus. Those plans had gone terribly awry in the crucifixion and death of Jesus; not even the rumors of an empty tomb and an encounter with the living Jesus could deter them from leaving Jerusalem.  Why? It is not clear. What is clear is that their hearts are heavy and the way before them uncertain. Then they encounter Jesus.

Our travelers are last seen running in joyous exuberance to Jerusalem to tell the good news that He is alive! In the encounter with Jesus that have made the journey from pain to joy – they have connected the dots.

Plans will go awry; it is their nature and our fortune. But it seems to me that the journey from pain to joy, despair to hope, disappointment to fulfillment depends on our openness to being shown how the dots connect. May this day bring you a heart burning within you that you recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. May you connect the dots of this life unto eternal life.