In the days following His resurrection, our Lord revealed himself to His followers to continue to impart His teaching to them in ways that would open their eyes. He does so with us as well to this very day.
In our Gospel today we hear of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and how as they journeyed along, they encounter our Lord, though without first recognizing him. They continue along, and talk with Him and listen to his words, but never really perceive who He is until He chooses to let their eyes be opened through the breaking of the bread, the Eucharist that He shared with them at their evening meal. With this, their eyes were opened to Him, and they realized how many things should have tipped them off earlier to His presence. His words and teaching, His imparting of understanding and wisdom as they journeyed along together. All things that should have revealed Him to them if their hearts had been more open, and yet they simply did not perceive until they encountered Him in the Eucharist.
We need to ask ourselves how often we fall into this same lack of perception in our lives? How many people do we encounter that our Lord has placed in our lives to impart His message to us, and yet we do not see them as such? How often do we read or hear His word through the Gospels and not take in His message because we only hear words and are not listening with our hearts? All these things happen to us throughout our lives and often we do not even realize it. Yet, there is reason for hope even though we may have been oblivious. Our Lord gave all of Himself to us, including His precious body and blood in the Eucharist. Like those who were traveling with Him on the road, we too, when we receive the Eucharist can have our eyes opened to Him. When we receive this precious gift, our spirits are strengthened, our bodies come into balance between our physical and spiritual selves, and our eyes are able to see more clearly Jesus Christ present in those around us. Each time we receive, we need to do so with the awareness of who and what we are actually taking in. When we ponder this, we then leave ourselves open to meditate on the deeper experience and meaning, and this insight can’t help but impact our lives as we go forth after Mass to encounter the world and those who inhabit it, each created in the image of God, and each imbued with the divine spark of His presence. To walk the road then with such awareness opens each of us to new possibilities and intimacy with our Lord, and with one another. The Eucharist was given to us out of selfless love, and the nourishment that it provides allows us to see clearly those around us who we can in turn love in the same way, and in doing so draw closer to Christ.
The Deacons Bench 