STAY WITH US, LORD

III EASTER SUNDAY - Luke 24:13-35

The death of Jesus on the cross came as a tremendous shock to the disciples, destroying all their hopes. They were disappointed and disillusioned. With heavy hearts, they went back to the village, to the old certainties, forgetting that we can never go back to the past. We can remember the past and learn lessons from it, but we cannot reenact it and when we try, we do something different. As they talked and walked, a stranger join them and got interested in their conversation, intervening with a simple question: What are you talking about? With sadness showing on “their faces downcast”, they showed their surprise: You didn’t hear what happened in Jerusalem during the last few days? How is it possible?

And they explained to this stranger about the crucifixion of the great prophet Jesus of Nazareth, whom they believed to be the Messiah who should have restored the Kingdom of Israel. Now their hopes and expectations have been dashed.

In this gospel passage, we have a journey of two people who lost hope and felt low and depressed, as if life is not worth living anymore. And Jesus came and started walking with them, allowing them to give expression to their worries and concerns. In their journey, they welcomed a stranger, who became their fellow traveller, and were able to engage in a dialogue with him. This stranger was Jesus, who opened their minds and brought a new understanding and a new way of looking at what happened - the passion and death of Jesus on the cross. They had followed Jesus with the hope of political restoration to the glory of the people of Israel, but Jesus did not come for that. And they avoided and feared suffering and death as the destroyers of life. Jesus embraced suffering and death and transformed them into the path of resurrection and life. As he explained to them, they began to understand and everything started to fall in place and to make sense.

Jesus is always able to transform our sadness into joy and our disappointments into hope. He brings new light into our hearts, making it possible to look ahead and to walk straight, knowing that he is with us.

The two travellers enjoyed the company of this stranger who had become a friend and they did not want to separate from him. As the evening approached when they reached the village, they invited him saying: “Stay with us!” (Lk 24:29). As he remained with them, he shared the bread with them, and they recognised that he was Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord.

It is in difficult times that we need most the company of the Risen Lord with us. Only with him, can we walk along the paths of life and experience a joy that we must share with others. Like those two disciples travelling back to the village, we must ask the Lord: “Stay with us!” Be with us, so that we may recognise you and experience your love and the power of your resurrection.