Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them, 
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him, 
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning 
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“The Road to Emmaus” is one of the final stories in Luke’s Gospel, which teaches us a beautiful lesson about life with – or without – Christ.

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It begins with two of Jesus’ disciples leaving Jerusalem, walking westward towards Emmaus. 

When the Lord appears to them, they mistake him for a stranger. They share with him what they know and have seen – that the Lord was crucified on Friday, women visited his tomb on Sunday, they proclaimed it was empty, and other disciples have said the same.

But these two still don’t understand why the tomb was empty; they haven’t made the leap of faith from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

They’re leaving Jerusalem – and their faith – behind.

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Their journey away from Jerusalem towards Emmaus represents a soul without Christ.

Just as these two are walking westward into the sunset, into the night, so a soul without Christ is deprived of light; when faced with death, it becomes dim, restless, without hope.

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After the Lord reveals himself to them in the breaking of the bread – a likely reference to the Eucharist, their eyes are opened.

Immediately, they change directions and rush back to Jerusalem.

Such is a soul filled with Christian faith. It’s alive, bright, desperate to share the good news of the empty tomb with others.

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As we enter into this blessed Easter season, may the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with that same faith which allows us to discovery why the tomb was empty.

Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Alleluia!

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Image credits: (1) Emmaus Road, The Missional Network (2) Road to Emmaus, by Daniel Bonnell (3) Road to Emmaus, Fine Art America

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Gospel: John 20: 11-18

Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” 
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I admire Mary Magdalene so much in this Gospel passage. Her soul is on fire with love; she’s obsessed with finding Jesus.

When she reaches the empty tomb, she’s overwhelmed with anxiety: “They have taken away my Lord! Where did they lay him? Where could he be? Give him to me!” she says frantically, as if Jesus belongs totally to her.

Even when she sees the angels inside the tomb, she tells them, “They’ve taken away my Lord!”

I’d imagine her eyes were so flooded with tears that she mistaked them for human beings.

Then when Jesus appears to her, she thinks he’s a gardener. “Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”

Mary’s desperate. She’s on a mission. She’ll do anything to find Jesus, even if it’s just caring for his body once laid in a tomb.

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Mary shows us what it’s like when love of God takes possession of a soul – Jesus is everything.

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How much of that passion for Jesus do we share with her? How many of our thoughts, words, and actions, or how much of our time, is taken up by Jesus?

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May Mary intercede for us, that we would encounter in our own way the same person she did – Jesus raised from the dead.

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Image credits: (1) Mary Magdalene, by Jonathan Weber (2) Rembrandt, Mary Magdalene (3) JW.org

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Acts 2: 14, 22-33

On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.

“You who are children of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:

I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, 
because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.

My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit
that he received from the Father, as you both see and hear.”

The Word of the Lord.

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One of the earliest proofs of the resurrection is the complete transformation in Peter’s behavior.

Remember what happens on Holy Thursday and Good Friday: Jesus is betrayed, arrested, abandoned, and crucified. Meanwhile, Peter vehemently denies ever knowing Jesus.

Only the Apostle John and a few women stay with the LORD until his death.

Yet, in our first reading today, the same Peter who denied ever knowing Jesus, risks his life by preaching to the very same crowds who put Jesus to death. 

“This man you killed, using lawless men to crucify him,” he says. “But God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.”

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“Of this we are all witnesses.”

There’s no other logical reason for the change in Peter’s behavior – from cowardice to courage, fear to freedom – unless he’s actually seen Jesus raised from dead.

Peter’s repeated encounters with the Risen Lord compel him to spend the next three decades of his life proclaiming the Good News.

Then, he dies like his Master, nailed to a cross, confident that he, too, would be raised up to new life.

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How strong is my own belief in the resurrection? Do I have the confidence of Peter, that fire of faith in my bones?

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The Church offers us these readings during the Easter season to bolster our faith, inspiring us to believe what Peter did – there is life after death.

Thanks be to God!

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Image credits: (1) The Resurrection, Pietro Perugino (2) Peter Preaching, Masolino da Panicale (3) Good News Christian News