BREAKING BREAD WIHT GOD

Fr Louis Scurti places the Revelation of Jesus at Emmaus within the historical, Theological and geographic context. Easter 3, 2026

Transcript

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A little bit of geography, a little bit of location. The upper room that we all know as the Last Supper is located right above the tomb of David that's mentioned in the scriptures. You go down this alley, and the tomb is on the left, and it's quite an elaborate tomb, and there's always people praying there at the tomb of David. Then you go up the stairs, and that's it's renovated from when it was 2,000 years ago, the what the upper room where the Less Supper took place. Emmaus is also mentioned today, and Emmaus was the first place I said Mass in the Holy Land. We were on a pilgrimage a few years ago, and the first place we stopped was Emmaus, a few miles from Jerusalem, and there we were able to celebrate our first Mass, which was an honor beyond imagination. There's a lot going on in the scriptures today. The first reading is what we call one of Peter's speeches, and there are several of them in the scriptures from the Acts of the Apostles. And it's basically the charygma. The charygma is an old name for our faith, the heart of our faith. Summarized in the Creed every Sunday. Jesus sent by the Father, He did good works, He was crucified, He died, He resurrected, and He's seen among us. That's the charisma, the heart of our faith. So this Sunday, as we celebrate the third Sunday of Easter, we have the opportunity to locate our history geographically and theologically from the scriptures and from the references in scriptures. And this should give us great joy because the summation of these readings is at the table. Jesus is walking along, going on his way to Emmaus with two of his friends, one possibly his cousin, Cleopas. We don't know exactly, but usually he's referred to as one of the relatives of Jesus, son of Mary of Cleopas. And they're talking about Jesus, but they don't recognize him. They're talking about him and all the things that he could have done and shoulda, could have, would have, and they're going on and they're depressed, and they're walking away from Jerusalem on the way to Emmaus. Jerusalem is where it happens. Jerusalem is the place. Everything in the Gospels, especially in Luke, mentioning Jerusalem, people are going to Jerusalem. You don't leave Jerusalem. And theologically, it's the place in which all this happens. The miracles, the crucifixion, the resurrection. But we don't know that yet. These two friends of Jesus are walking along in all sincerity and didn't happen. But you heard some women. Now, problem with women in those days, you need two or more people who are not women to testify to an event, to prove it. And who comes running into where the disciples are? Two women. So it's like, oh, here we go. Hysterical women, that's a terrible characterization, I know, but it's 2,000 years old. So here we go again. Hysterical women saying that Jesus is alive, they see him and all that. Now, think of our own histories as Christians. We have the whole history of Jesus coming written to us tonight from the Acts of the Apostles. He was foretold. We have the words of David, the prophet, who foretold that he would come. Didn't name him, but foretold that it would be the Messiah and that he would give life. So that's our antiquity. Then we go into contemporary times in which the two disciples are discussing all these great things we thought Jesus would have been. And who, lo and behold, starts walking with them. Now it's significant that Emmaus is seven miles from Jerusalem and that they're walking away from Jerusalem. They're walking away from where it all happens. They're walking away from the heart of their faith. They don't know yet. They will. They will come to find out. So Jesus appears to them and starts walking along with them, and they don't recognize him. I don't know what the glorified body of Jesus looked like. You remember he appeared on the same night that they're talking about, the night of the resurrection, and the disciples were behind locked doors, and he appeared to them, even though the doors were locked, and he breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit. And they started believing it's true. He's back from the dead, he's resurrected, he's alive, stays with them a little few moments. We heard this in the last two weeks' gospels, and then he disappears again. So this transfigured body of Jesus is very different. It's something that only God creates, allows Jesus to walk through closed doors, allows him to leave, and allows him something very significant. Don't forget he said it last week. Give me something to eat. Not a spirit. There are no accidents in the scriptures. When he asks for something to eat, he's proving to them that he's a human being, glorified for a human being. And then he disappears. And then we hear the story of the women. They saw angels at the tomb. Go to your brothers and tell them that Jesus is alive. This is our history. See, we've celebrated Easter. This is the third Sunday of Easter we celebrated a few weeks ago. This is us. This is about us. This is our history of the beginnings of our faith in the resurrected Lord. He's with us now as we read the scriptures. He's with us when we go home. He's with us when we go partying. He's visited the sick, visiting friends. He's with us. He broke through the barriers of death. So they continue, and it's getting dark, and as anybody would politely say, I'm going further. And they, well, you know, the inn is right here. Come on in, stay with us. I'm sure they have another room. And he goes in. Now he's already explained to them who he is theologically. He didn't say, yo, there's Jesus here. No, no, he didn't do that. He explained to them the fulfillment of the prophets. Remember what David said, what Moses said, remember all the prophets. Remember all the things that even Isaiah said, that this Messiah had to be crucified, had to die. But not one bone would be broken. See, you can imagine the disciples scratching their heads, yeah, but like all of us. God is with you. Yeah, but does he know what's going on in my life? Yes. God is with you. Yeah, but you know, if he were with me, I wouldn't have done this. Or if he was stronger, I wouldn't have done that. Or who knows? Doubt. Number Thomas, doubt. Very popular. It proves we're human. And as Jesus is continuing with them, they sit down to a meal. And this is the most awe shattering event in their lives. He sat down, and Luke uses the same words that he used at the Last Supper. He sat down with them, and as he breaks the bread, they recognize him, and he disappears. The bread is broken. So we who are here can see him in the bread. And what he was doing was being one of the guys. He was joining his two disciples at this meal and fed them. They became companions, and you know the origin of the word companion with bread, companies. Jesus is with us every time we come to church and receive the Eucharist, receive his body. Now that's just not a nice thing to say. That's authentic. Based on God's own word and promise. He comes to us. When we say amen, we should be saying, Yippee. Body of Christ? How awesome. The apostles describe it the the uh uh two friends of Jesus describe it as he disappeared from them, as their hearts burning within them. Weren't our hearts burning with us? Weren't all these synapses clicking with what didn't when he said what he said about fulfillment and and and the missionaries and the the Messiah and the role of us, didn't didn't it snap inside of us that he was telling us something really important? But we're human. Not until he broke the bread did they really see Jesus. And that's why we're here. Because he is still with us in every one of the sacraments, but most evidently in the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist. He's with us so we can do what the apostles did, what the evangelists did, and what these two followers who were going the wrong way did, they returned to Jerusalem. That's our goal. To go to Jerusalem and share the word. You know the rest of the story. You know Peter's encouragement. You hung him on the cross, but God raised him up. Now it's up to us to live his life. Now it's up to us to be the bread that he broke. For us to look at him in the breaking of the bread, and then look to each other as companions in the same meal. It's no accident that Jesus chose these two myopic guys. Just didn't see it. They didn't see it. Oh, you could go on and on, tell them about the prophets, tell about Moses, tell about David and all those wonderful fulfillments. But Jesus chooses to have them see him open their eyes when he breaks the bread. And that's why we're here. Because that same bread is still being broken at every celebration of the Eucharist around the world, with the Pope where he is when he travels, to us here at St. Anthony's. Just as he was at that table at Emmaus, he's here with us. And it's up to us to believe. I can't force you to believe, it's up to us who believe that that is the truth, to go out and proclaim it. By living it, by breaking bread with one another, and doing what he did. He loved us. And his father would not allow him to stay dead. And he loved us so much that he came back to us to break the bread with us.