Wednesday within the Octave of Easter
(Acts 3:1-10; Luke 24:13-35)
In the novel A Day
with a Perfect Stranger a woman is seated between two men on an
airplane. One of the two begins to
moralize with her. The other allows her
to use the armrest. Which of the men do you
suppose to be Jesus?
On the road to Emmaus the disciples find in Jesus the
perfect companion. He engages and inquires,
lets them express themselves and then explains to the point of inspiring. The shock comes at the end of the journey
when they discover in breaking bread with their supposedly new-found friend that
Jesus is their gracious companion.
We may wonder what the risen Christ looked like. The gospels do not offer much of a portrait. He evidently could be easily mistaken as with
Mary Magdalene in yesterday’s passage or even unnoticed as with the two disciples
today. Yet his presence becomes evident in
the breaking of the bread. All this is
to say that Jesus reveals himself in the Eucharist where we may meet him daily.
