Homily: Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter (Luke 24:13-35) “Where is Jesus Today?”

On Wednesday in the Octave of Easter every year we reflect on the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. This has traditionally been a day for pastors and religious professionals to go traveling after all the Easter activity. The idea was that there was no specific purpose for the trip that was taken and no planned itinerary, but the pilgrim would go and interact with whoever would be encountered. Jesus would be present in someone that the traveler would meet. Can’t say that I have ever done this, but it seems like an intriguing spiritual exercise.

The Gospel story has a lot of questions associated with it. Who were these two people who were walking away from Jerusalem? They are always pictured as two men in Christian art. But who is to say that they were not two woman or that it was not a married couple?

Perhaps the pilgrimage to go out to meet someone who represents Jesus and the two people in the Gospel story remind us that we need to be more open to meeting Jesus where we find him. We meet Jesus every day in the events and people of our lives. Do we see him?

Yesterday I had Mass at Alleman High School. Talking to teenagers is always an interesting exercise. They are not usually excited about coming to Mass. I struggled with how to approach the subject of Easter. There is so much pressure put on teens today to be skeptical about everything.

I tried to emphasize that the resurrection of Jesus doesn’t just concern a historical event that happened in the distant past, but Jesus is alive and present now. Jesus is touching people today. But we must be curious about Jesus Christ and look for his influence in our daily life.

There are believers who have had their lives changed for the better by encountering Jesus in the sacraments, in church community, in Catholic Schools and a host of other ways. It happens, but we must take time to reflect on where Jesus is in our world today.

Reflection Questions:

1.    Could I take a little trip to find Jesus today? Can I be completely open to anything that would happen?

2.   What is my main take away from this story? Who do I think the two people in the story are?

 Dear Parishioners,

      We passed out prayer cards with children’s names on them that will be receiving first communion a couple weeks ago. I hope that we all are praying for our young people as they receive sacraments of initiation. Soon we will be having confirmation with our eighth graders. They need our prayers as well.

          It is good to see so many children who are enthusiastic about their faith. In a world that seems full of bad news it is good to see all this good news. Our young people need a firm foundation in their faith. Our catechists are trying to do all that they can so this may happen. This is a huge part of our parish’s mission.

          May Our Lady pray for our parish as the Easter Season continues to unfold.

          Fr. Mark