SPEAKER_00: Seven miles.
SPEAKER_00: That's the distance from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
SPEAKER_00: About a two hour walk.
SPEAKER_00: And in those seven miles, two disciples did something very dangerous.
SPEAKER_00: They walked away.
SPEAKER_00: Not loudly, not angrily, not in rebellion, just quietly, drifting, creating distance between themselves and the place where everything was supposed to make sense.
SPEAKER_00: That's where today's gospel begins.
SPEAKER_00: Two disciples leaving Jerusalem, leaving the church, leaving everything they once believed.
SPEAKER_00: Not because they had lost faith entirely, but because God had not met their expectations.
SPEAKER_00: They say to themselves, We were hoping.
SPEAKER_00: That may be one of the most honest lines in all of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Because we've all said that.
SPEAKER_00: And when He doesn't, when the outcome doesn't match the prayer, we don't reject Him right out.
SPEAKER_00: We don't slam the door, we don't make a dramatic break.
SPEAKER_00: We just stop walking towards Him.
SPEAKER_00: And begin slowly, almost subtly, to walk the other way.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what makes the gospel so unsettling.
SPEAKER_00: They're talking about Jesus without recognizing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: They know the story, they know the facts, they were with him, they can explain what happened.
SPEAKER_00: They are, in a sense, theologically informed, but they do not know him.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly where many people find themselves today.
SPEAKER_00: You know the prayers, you come to Mass, you can recite the creed, but if you're honest, something feels distant.
SPEAKER_00: Something that once burned and was growing inside has gone quiet.
SPEAKER_00: But you're here, but sometimes not fully here.
SPEAKER_00: And then something happens.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus shows up.
SPEAKER_00: Not in glory, not with power, not with angels and trumpets and signs.
SPEAKER_00: He simply begins to walk with them.
SPEAKER_00: And they do not recognize him.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because disappointment will blind you.
SPEAKER_00: Grief blinds you.
SPEAKER_00: Sin blinds you.
SPEAKER_00: Not by removing God from your life, but by taking away your ability to see that he is already there.
SPEAKER_00: He was walking beside them the entire time and they had no idea.
SPEAKER_00: How often has that been true for us?
SPEAKER_00: And then he does what he always does.
SPEAKER_00: He opens the scriptures, he walks them through the story, not to give them new information, but to show them that what they had missed was everything they thought was a failure, is in fact part of God's plan.
SPEAKER_00: The cross was not the end, it was the door.
SPEAKER_00: And then something begins to happen within them.
SPEAKER_00: A stirring, a warmth, a fire where they thought there was only ashes.
SPEAKER_00: And later they will say, Were our hearts not burning within us?
SPEAKER_00: That's what truth does.
SPEAKER_00: Not entertainment, not cleverness, not performance.
SPEAKER_00: Truth does not entertain you.
SPEAKER_00: Truth sets you on fire.
SPEAKER_00: But then comes the turning point.
SPEAKER_00: They reach the village, it's getting dark, and Jesus makes as if he's gonna continue on the journey.
SPEAKER_00: He does not force himself, he does not impose.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because love never forces, and everything depends on what they do next.
SPEAKER_00: They say to him, Stay with us.
SPEAKER_00: Three words.
SPEAKER_00: And that and that is the prayer that changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with us.
SPEAKER_00: Because God will walk with you, he will pursue you, he will speak to you, but he will never ever force himself upon you.
SPEAKER_00: He waits to be invited.
SPEAKER_00: And then the moment he takes bread, he blesses it, he breaks it, he gives it, their eyes are opened.
SPEAKER_00: Not on the road, not in the conversation, not in the explanation, but in the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist.
SPEAKER_00: And this must be said clearly.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a symbol.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a reminder.
SPEAKER_00: This is Jesus Christ alive, present, and given to you.
SPEAKER_00: The same Jesus who walked on that road is here.
SPEAKER_00: The same Jesus who rose from the dead is here.
SPEAKER_00: The same Jesus that they recognized is here.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, how many people come to Mass, receive the Eucharist, and leave unchanged?
SPEAKER_00: No fire, no urgency, no movement, just routine.
SPEAKER_00: Samo, samo.
SPEAKER_00: If we're not recognizing him here, it's not because he's not here, it's because something in us remains closed.
SPEAKER_00: Because look at what happens next.
SPEAKER_00: The moment they recognize him, they get up immediately.
SPEAKER_00: Seven miles over two hours in the dark on the same road they had just walked in the opposite direction.
SPEAKER_00: They do not wait until morning, they do not delay, they do not say, okay, well, we'll deal with this in the morning.
SPEAKER_00: No, what do they do?
SPEAKER_00: They get up and go.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you encounter the risen Christ, you do not delay.
SPEAKER_00: You move, you turn around, you go back.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question, and it's for you, not for the person sitting next to you.
SPEAKER_00: Where are you walking away?
SPEAKER_00: What part of your life is quietly headed towards Emmaus?
SPEAKER_00: What disappointment has convinced you that God didn't show up when maybe He's been walking right there beside you all along, waiting for you to see him?
SPEAKER_00: What have you stopped fighting for?
SPEAKER_00: What have you quietly accepted?
SPEAKER_00: What are you frustrated about?
SPEAKER_00: What fire has gone out?
SPEAKER_00: Because today he is doing the same thing he did on that road.
SPEAKER_00: He's walking with you, he's speaking to you, he is about to break the bread right here and now and reveal himself to you.
SPEAKER_00: But you have to say it.
SPEAKER_00: You have to initiate it.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me in my marriage.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me in my grief.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me in my doubt.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me when the road is dark and I've been walking in the wrong direction longer than I want to admit.
SPEAKER_00: So don't leave here the same.
SPEAKER_00: When you receive the Eucharist, understand that something is happening right here and right now.
SPEAKER_00: The same Christ who walked that road is here, not in memory, not in a book, physically here.
SPEAKER_00: Recognize him, receive him, and then do what they did.
SPEAKER_00: Get up from the table, walk back into your life, and live for the rest of this week and for the rest of your life like someone who has actually encountered the risen Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Because if he is risen, and he is risen indeed, everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: And if nothing changes, then we haven't really encountered him yet.
SPEAKER_00: But today, my brothers and sisters, right here, right now, you will recognize him in the breaking of the bread.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.