The Happy Priest: Easter, Emmaus and the Gift of Peace

Our journey towards the eternal Easter in heaven will always be filled with suffering, difficulties, challenges, sorrow, trials and tribulations.  The peace that Jesus gives us as his gift is an immense gift because it remains inside of us no matter what may be going on around us.  We can experience his gift of peace precisely because he is with us.  He is with us, because he is alive, he has truly risen!

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - Tragedies are a common part of the human experience.  The late night knock on the door by a policeman to inform a mother and father that their teenage child was killed in a car accident; the wife who is abandoned by an unfaithful husband; the man who loses his job; people, young and old, that are diagnosed with a fatal illness, these are just some of the tribulations that afflict humanity.  All of these situations cause such personal devastation that people just give up on God and no longer attend church or even pray.

"The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread" (Luke 24: 35).

The disciples of Emmaus were devastated by the death of Jesus.  They had come to the conclusion that the new way of life that Jesus has started was finished.  The devastation caused powerful negative feelings to cloud their ability to reason and therefore, they could no longer see clearly.  A deep feeling of discouragement crushed them.  Frustrated and disheartened, they left Jerusalem. 

As the two disciples were walking back to Emmaus, the risen Jesus appears to them.  Their minds and hearts clouded by overpowering negative emotions did not allow them to recognize Jesus.

How many times, like the disciples of Emmaus, when tragedy and tribulations occur in our lives, are we so overwhelmed by negative emotions that we are unable to see that Jesus is by our side?  We must understand that even in the darkest moments, even though we may be engulfed by irrational feelings, Jesus is there.  He knows what we are going through.  His hand is still there to lift us up precisely because he is risen and not dead. 

At times we all feel like the disciples of Emmaus.

My dear friends, many times we do not recognize that Jesus is with us because we seek consolations in the things of this world.  We escape from sadness by seeking comfort in over eating, excessive entertainment, too much work and even sometimes in drugs, alcohol, and illicit pleasures.  The overpowering force of emotions are only repressed by these forms of escapes and we forget that the only one who can heal us is the one who has risen from the dead; i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before their encounter with Jesus they were downcast and overpowered by the weight of their negative emotions that sapped all of their vitality.  Once they experience the risen Jesus through the Eucharist, their emotions are healed, vitality returns, and they energetically return to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles that he has truly risen. 

"While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you'" (Luke 24: 36).

The reality of the risen Lord fills us with profound peace.  We must never be discouraged.  He is truly with us.  With Jesus, we know that we are journeying, not to the sunset, but to the sunrise.  We enter into a new relationship with God when we really believe that God is as Jesus told us that he is.  We become absolutely sure of his love.  We become absolutely convinced that he is above all else a redeeming God.  The fear of suffering and death vanishes, for suffering and death means going to the one God who is the awesome God of love.  In reality, our life long journey is a journey to the eternal Easter in heaven. 

When we truly believe, we enter into a new relationship with life itself.   When we make Jesus our way of life, life becomes new.  Life is clad with a new loveliness, a new light and a new strength.  When we embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior, when we develop a personal relationship with him through prayer, the Eucharist, and frequent Confession, we realize that life does not end, it changes, and it goes from incompletion to completion, from imperfection to perfection, from time to eternity.

When we truly believe in Jesus, we are resurrected in this life because we are freed from the fear and worry that are characteristic of a godless life; we are freed from the unhappiness of a life filled with sin; we are freed from the loneliness of a life without meaning.  When we walk with Jesus and follow his way, life becomes so powerful that it cannot die but must find in death the transition to a higher life.

"Then he said to them, 'Why are you troubled?  And why do questions arise in your hearts?  Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have'.  And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.  While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, 'Have you anything to eat?  They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them" (Luke 24:  38-43).

The resurrection of Jesus was a shocking event for the apostles and the disciples.  During his public ministry, they saw Jesus raise the dead.  However, Jairus' daughter, the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus did not appear with a glorified body. All of them had to die again. 

The gospel narratives of the resurrection function as a catechesis, a teaching tool, to show us something about the glorified body.  "Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have."  

Jesus continually points to his hands and his feet because one thing is certain for the apostles and the disciples: Jesus died on the cross.  He was in the tomb.  Now Jesus is showing them that he has truly risen.  His life is different from what it once was.  He now has the glorified body. 

The Easter season fills us with profound hope as we journey towards the eternal Easter in heaven.  It is there that we too will have the glorified body in a new heavens and a new earth.  This new reality after the Second Coming will be a physical reality!

"We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man, nor the way in which the universe will be transformed.  The form of this world, distorted by sin, is passing away, and we are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, in which happiness will fill and surpass all the desires of peace arising in the hearts of men" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1048). 

"Peace be with you."  These are the first words of Easter and Jesus repeats them often.  "Peace be with you." 

Our journey towards the eternal Easter in heaven will always be filled with suffering, difficulties, challenges, sorrow, trials and tribulations.  The peace that Jesus gives us as his gift is an immense gift because it remains inside of us no matter what may be going on around us.  We can experience his gift of peace precisely because he is with us.  He is with us, because he is alive, he has truly risen!

"The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread."

The Eucharist is a physical reality.  The Eucharist is the risen Lord.  This is where we can encounter him - in the tabernacle, at Mass, at adoration, during our devout reception of Holy Communion. 

Wherever a sanctuary lamp is burning, we can encounter the risen Lord.  He comforts us and strengthens us with his true, real and sacramental presence. 

Before the Blessed Sacrament we can pray with the words of Saint Padre Pio:

"Stay with me, Lord, if you wish me to be faithful to you.  Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of consolation for you, a nest of love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes: death, judgment, eternity approaches.  It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will stop along the way and for that, I need you.  It is getting late and death approaches.  I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows.  O how I need you, my Jesus, in this night of exile.

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its danger.  I need you.  I need you.

Let me recognize you as your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart."

"Peace be with you."  These are the first words of the risen Jesus and this is his gift to us.

No matter what is going on in our lives, no matter what is going on around us, no matter what evil may attack us - peace.   Go to the tabernacle.  Go to Mass every day.  Nourish yourself with the risen Lord.  Let him lift you up from the darkness of discouragement.  Let him fill you with his peace.  "Peace be with you." 

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Father James Farfaglia is the Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, TX.  Visit him on the web to learn more about his book, homilies and audio podcasts. 

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