They thought it was all over. "We had hoped," they said, "that he was the one to set Israel free." Had hoped. Hoped no more.
So, they had left the community, the friends and companions who had been through the past dreadful week with them, and set out for Emmaus. Heavy of heart, they walked along, talking about the recent events. The women's story about seeing angels at the empty tomb and being told by them that Jesus was alive, what were they to make of that? In troubled times the imagination can play dangerous tricks on people. No, better to face the facts and not hang on to impossible dreams: Jesus, their great hope, was dead.
As they trudged along dejectedly they were joined by a stranger who, unbelievably, seemed not to know what dreadful things had happened over the past few days in Jerusalem. He asks them to tell the story and they pour it all out on him. "We had hoped..." And walking along the road with them he listens to their outpourings. But, far from agreeing with them, he catches their story and turns it on its head. "You foolish men!" As he talked, drawing from the scriptures, a new hope burned within them as they drank in his words.
Stranger though he was, they wanted to hang on to him, to keep listening to him speak. They prevailed on him to have a bite to eat with them, because, they said, "The day is almost over."
It was only then, when this man took the bread and blessed it and offered it to them, that they recognised Jesus. And at that moment of recognition, "He had vanished from their sight."
How often are we plodding along on our journey through life, half?believing, doubting, down?hearted. We really thought that if we prayed and tried to be faithful, life would get better. But, for many of us, things seem to get worse and we wonder if there is a God at all. Why does it all seem so vague and meaningless at times?
Just as the Lord joined the two men when they were at a low ebb so does he walk with us in our dark moments. Like the disciples, we too can fail to recognise his presence.
But God, in his kindness, accepts us just as we are. Even if we are bitter in our disillusionment, or angry and feeling totally let down by him, he loves us and walks with and waits with us. It is a mistake to think we only meet God in ‘holy' places, in church or at prayer. He is in ‘the bits and pieces' of our lives, even when they seem worthless.
The story of the journey to Emmaus is our story. The Lord walks the road of our life with us, listening to our story and drawing us to hear his word. When we make space within the joy of his presence He will make our hearts burn with love, just as it did those two wayfarers. And, like them, we too will want to set out to tell everyone that, "Yes, it's true, it's true! Jesus is risen from the dead!"
Sister Redempta Twomey is a Columban Sister living in Ireland.