WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:04.080 Two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.240 That's what we hear in today's gospel. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.519 And they say, We were hoping. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:11.519 That's the line. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.800 Not we are hoping. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:18.719 Not we are still believing. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.359 No, we were hoping. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:22.960 Past tense. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.960 You see how hope has died? 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:33.439 If we're honest, that's a very real place, something that we've all encountered. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:37.920 Not atheism, not rebellion, just disappointment. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:44.719 You believed, you trusted, you thought God was going to act, and it didn't happen the way you expected. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.159 So you don't make a big dramatic break. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:49.840 You just walk away. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:51.280 That's Emmaus. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.000 And here's the incredible part. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.039 Jesus doesn't wait for them to come back. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.359 He goes after them. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:01.840 He meets them on the road. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.560 And at first they don't recognize him. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.280 Which tells us something very important. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:13.359 Jesus can be present in your life right now, at this very moment, and you still don't see him. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:19.040 Not because he's absent, but because your expectations are way off. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:23.200 They were looking for a victorious Messiah. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:25.519 They got a crucified one. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:27.120 So they missed him. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.959 Now hold that and go to the first reading. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:37.280 A crippled man from birth is sitting at the gate every day, same place, same routine. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.840 And when Peter and John walk by, he asks for money. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.359 That's something probably to be expected. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:48.640 You've probably seen this in different places. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.319 A small improvement, a little help to survive. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.640 And Peter says something powerful. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:02:00.079 He says, I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have, I give you. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:05.439 And then he says, In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:07.840 Here's the connection. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:14.080 Both the crippled man and the disciples had settled for less than what God wanted to give. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:19.520 One expected coins, the others expected a political victory. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.719 Neither expected resurrection power. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:27.199 And this is where it it all hits, where it all comes together. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.319 Because how often do we do the same? 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:35.199 We come to God asking for small things or just fix a situation. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.759 Just if you can make this a little easier, just help me get to through this. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.639 If you can just make this happen. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:48.400 And God says, I don't just want to help you cope. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.360 I don't want to just help you get through this. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:53.360 I want to raise you up. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.120 The man at the gate asked for money. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:59.039 He got his life back. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.639 The disciples were walking away in disappointment. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.360 They encountered the risen Christ. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.639 And notice how both stories change. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.159 The man doesn't just stand, he leaps up. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.039 He goes into the temple praising God. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.159 That's not survival, that's transformation. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:24.479 And the Emmaus disciples, well, the moment they recognize Jesus, what do they do? 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:27.680 They get up immediately and they go back. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:30.000 Seven miles at night. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:30.960 Why? 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:38.000 Because once you see him, once you have an encounter with him, you can't stay where you were. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:40.960 That's the pattern of resurrection. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:42.400 That's what we've been seeing. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:46.960 Jesus meets you where you are, but he refuses to leave you there. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:49.759 Here's how it happens in the gospel. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:52.080 Their eyes are open in the breaking of the bread. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:53.120 That's not random. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:54.879 That's the Eucharist. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.240 They walk with him, they listen to him, but then they recognized him where? 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.960 At the table, at the altar. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:04.560 That's all of us. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:06.240 At every single mass. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:19.920 You might come distracted, you may come tired, carrying a lot of weight, baggage, but here in the word and in the breaking of the bread, God reveals himself. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:22.959 So here's the question for today. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.879 Where have you settled? 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:28.240 Where have you said, oh, this is just how it is? 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.240 It's not going to get any better. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.360 Where have you lowered your expectations of God? 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:38.240 Where have you quietly walked away without even realizing it? 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:47.839 Because Easter says this: you're asking for coins just to get by, and God is offering you resurrection. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.240 And you're walking away. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:53.519 Jesus is already walking towards you. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:55.120 So what do you do? 00:04:55.439 --> 00:05:08.800 Same as both readings, you respond, you let him raise you up, you let him open your eyes, and maybe today, very simply, your prayer is this Lord, I was hoping. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:11.759 Help my hope again. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:18.399 Because the risen Christ is not waiting at a distance, he's already on the road towards you. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:25.839 And he gets there beside you, already speaking, already ready to take you by the hand and say, Rise, I call you to more. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.839 I call you to greatness. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:34.399 And once you do that, you just start to walk differently. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:41.040 You won't just start walking, you will run, you will leap with a fire in your heart. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:42.000 Amen.