Sisters and brothers,
What difference does a name make? Perhaps in most circumstances of life, names could be incidental, accidental, or have personal significance. But what I’d like to suggest is today, the name – a single name – is the key to understanding the deeper meaning of what the Lord is trying to teach us in this extraordinary, perhaps most famous of all of His appearances after His resurrection. And quite frankly, my dear brothers, it gives a key to what you are preparing to do upon ordination, for the rest of your lives.
Allow me to explain. When I traveled to the holy land for the very first time, I made my bucket list of places I wanted to visit. And on that list was Emmaus, as we hear, precisely because of its significance. And I was shocked to learn that no one knows where Emmaus actually is. There is no consensus.
And into my struggle to to try to make sense of that, the guide, who was a Franciscan, pulled me aside and he said ‘Bishop, remember the word, the name Emmaus in one translation literally means nowhere.’
And that’s the key. For let us situate ourselves in the lives of these two disciples who are walking away from Jerusalem. You see my friends, they had an expectation of who God was and what he was supposed to do. And that expectation was totally dashed. They seek liberation in a way that God was not prepared to give.
And so when this Messiah ruler was crucified and their world collapsed, they were fearful, confused, anxious. They were fearful because they had associated themselves with a company that were now outlawed. And the community that they had formed so tight had scattered to the four winds.
And so we’re told in the Gospel, they’re walking away from all of that. They’re walking away from Jerusalem, where the ministry would continue. And so they were going literally to nowhere.
And Jesus appears and gives us the formula that every Christian needs to remember. To bring ourselves, and our neighbors, and our friends, and those whom we love and those whom we meet; bring them from nowhere to somewhere.
And what does He do? He first appears and makes His presence felt because, in a moment of great fear, and suffering, and isolation, and anxiety, and loneliness, presence is a great gift. It tells that someone cares, that someone is willing to walk with you without questions, without judgment, without agenda, simply because the person is worth it.
And as that journey continues, then I am sure the Lord was peppered with many questions. Questions that did not make sense to these two disciples. Questions that their hearts long to have an answer for, so that they could commit themselves to something. And patiently He answered those questions. And prepared their minds and hearts so that they could have an ever-deeper encounter with Him first in the Holy Dcriptures, in the great mysteries of salvation, and then ultimately in the breaking of the bread.
And what happened is that these people who are going to nowhere, dejected, fearful, isolated, alone, and anxious now suddenly the hearts were on fire. They began to burn. And in the breaking of the bread they found what they were looking for.
And what did they do? They turned around and now suddenly they were going somewhere. Back to Jerusalem, back to Mission, back to the scattered community to help bring them together. Back to the Lord that they thought had failed them. And despite whatever penalty was coming – and we do not know what happened to them, they may have in fact had their lives as the price for going somewhere – they turned and never looked back.
This story in sacred scripture is a profound one for you and me to reflect upon. Because my dear friends, there are many people in our own world who are going nowhere fast. Who are struggling with fears, loneliness, and anxiety. People whose expectations have been dashed. People who are looking for a God that does not fit their expectations, looking for a community that will care for them without judgment. A community that will answer their questions that they seek, so that they might commit themselves to something greater than themselves. Because every human heart wants to do that.
And so you see the methodology, the Lord is asking of Christians of every age and you and I in our own age, is to follow His example and to learn to walk and accompany those around us. To allow them the safe space to ask their questions and gently, mercifully, patiently allow them to encounter the Lord in word, prayer, friendship and Sacrament. Most especially here at the altar where they can one day receive His body, blood, soul and divinity so that they might choose to go somewhere which matters. Somewhere which lasts. Somewhere that has Eternal purpose. And that is walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
And you, my three brothers, you are now entering into candidacy which means you’re in formation to the act and it becomes ever more intense. So I admonish you, as I admonish those who are ready in sacred orders, those who are studying to be priests, and all of us my friends, in this age most especially, you need to lead us. To accompany those people whom society has decided are not worth the time or effort. To go into what I call the shadows and meet those individuals, and lead them from Emmaus to Jerusalem.
And I refer to those whom society does not consider to be worth much; the poor, the sick, the refugee,those who are struggling so personally and so deeply with mental illness, or just simply the anxieties of life. Those whom society does not consider to be in the upper echelons, or the movers or shakers, or the ones who are the influences of our modern world. You see they are God’s children too and they, many, are walking towards Emmaus. And we need to help them to find Jerusalem. Not because we are better. But because we are the servants of the Master who is the best of us all.
So my dear friends, as we reflect this coming week on this profound story, may I ask you: is there someone, one person that you know of, who you think may be walking towards Emmaus? Someone that you and I can purposefully and intentionally invite to walk somewhere else, and to simply be with them? Make presents with them? Establish perhaps a friendship with them? And in our patience and mercy, begin to travel with them in the wrong direction for a while, until with God’s grace they can see what we see. And begin to walk in the direction towards Christ. For there they will find their hope, their destiny, their happiness, their purpose, their joy.
Do what difference does a name make? A big difference. For my friends, we, our young people, our young adults, those whom society has forgotten, and all good people of will, we are all called to go from Emmaus to Jerusalem, and to Glory with our Risen Lord.
