THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, Year A Acts 2:14,22-28; Ps 16:1-2,5,7-8,9-10,11; 1 Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35

HE WALKS WITH ME AND HE TALKS WITH ME Homily by Fr. A. Van Sloun April 25-26, 2020

Once again, welcome to our video version of the Mass.

When we celebrate our school Masses, we like to have questions and answers in the homily, so the students will be alert and involved. This method is not just for kids. It is good for all of us to be alert and involved.

So today we will begin with a question. Masses without an assembly have been suspended for a long time already. Maybe you have been counting the number of weeks.

Here is our opening question.

Q: This week included, how many weeks have we been celebrating video Masses? A: Six.

Just think. One and a half months that we have not been together in church and you have been watching Mass on your screen at home. It is not ideal, but we will make the best of it.

We are going to continue with another question.

This one will be multiple choice. Maybe easier. Ready?

In the that we just heard; it was Easter Sunday afternoon. Two disciples were walking down the road together. They were headed to their hometown.

Q: What is the name of the town where they were going? a) Nazareth; b) Bethlehem; c) ; d) . Where were the two disciples headed? A: Emmaus (Lk 24:13).

1

The incident that happened on the road to Emmaus was remarkable. It was the day that rose from the dead, Easter Sunday. The two disciples, Cleopas and , were walking down the road. It was late in the afternoon. And suddenly, out of nowhere, coming up from behind, unexpectedly, Jesus appeared out of thin air (Lk 24:15). The risen Jesus, with his spiritual body, can do that. Jesus could mysteriously pass through locked doors (Jn 20:19,26). Jesus could show up instantly along the seashore (Jn 21:4). And he could appear, presto, along the road.

So now, instead of two walking down the road, there were three walking down the road: Jesus, Cleopas, and Simeon.

The situation reminds me of an old hymn. Our children and young adults might not know this song. It learned it when I have offered Masses at Hillcrest over the last few years. Marti Carter and Liz Thornton are the two music ministers, and the residents love to sing the old traditional songs.

And he walks with me and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.

Cleopas and Simeon could have sung these very words. Jesus mysteriously appeared along the road. And they could have broken out in song: And he walks with me and he talks with me.

It might not seem like a big deal that the risen Jesus went out for a walk with these two disciples. With sheltering in place, people are going out for walks more these days. Walks get you out of the house. Walks are good exercise. Walks are a great way to enjoy the great outdoors. But when Jesus went for a walk with Cleopas and Simeon, there was a lot more to it. It was not just your typical Sunday afternoon walk.

I would like to ask you a few more questions, but the answers would not be so obvious, so let’s just go with the explanations.

2

It might look innocent enough, but Cleopas and Simeon were misbehaving by walking down the road to Emmaus. Misbehaving. Sinning.

They should never have been on the road to start with. Here is the problem.

Jesus told his disciples twice that he would rise from the dead (Lk 9:22; 18:33). Earlier that morning, Easter Sunday morning, two told and the other women that Jesus had risen from the dead (Lk 24:6). Cleopas and Simeon did not believe that Jesus had risen. They were convinced that Jesus had died and that he was still dead.

Their refusal to believe in the Resurrection led them to two terrible decisions.

Cleopas and Simeon had spent the last three years with Jesus and the apostles. Cleopas and Simeon, and the twelve, and the other disciples, they had all become partners, good friends, buddies. They were “tight,” morning, noon, and night together. That afternoon they walked out on their friends. They left the group. They quit. They went off by themselves. They were being totally disloyal. They sold out. They should have stayed in Jerusalem with the others, but they left. It is not a very pretty picture.

As bad as Cleopas and Simeon were to the other disciples, they were worse to Jesus. When Jesus called them, they left everything to follow Jesus. They left their homes, their families, their jobs. Cleopas and Simeon had started a new way of life. Jesus had asked them to go from town to town to spread the gospel (see Lk 10:1). When Jesus died and was buried, they decided, “Well, these last three years with Jesus didn’t work out. We thought Jesus was the Messiah, but he wasn’t (see Lk 24:21a). Let’s go back home to our families. Let’s go back to our old jobs.” By being on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and Simeon were saying, “I quit being a of Jesus.”

3

It looks like an innocent stroll down the road on a nice Sunday afternoon, but it is not innocent at all. By being on the road, they quit on Jesus and they sold out on their friends.

Jesus would not have been very happy with these two guys. Cleopas and Simeon were in the process of sinning, and they were walking in the wrong direction.

Jesus appeared out of nowhere, while they were in the middle of their wrongdoing, and Jesus walked with them (Lk 24:15).

Jesus could have been so upset that he would just stay away. Or, Jesus could have scolded them, or Jesus could have punished them.

What does Jesus do? He was nice to them. He talked with them (Lk 24:25-27). He had dinner with them (Lk 24:30). He forgave them.

That is the way that Jesus is with sinners, before the Resurrection and after. Jesus seeks out lost sheep and rescues them (see Lk 15:4-6).

There is a moral to this story. This story is not just about Cleopas and Simeon. It is about you and me. We are Cleopas and Simeon.

We all make bad choices. We are all sinners. Sometimes we are disloyal to our fellow Christians, to family members, to fellow parishioners. Sometimes we sell out on Jesus. Sometimes we are on the wrong road, headed in the wrong direction.

As we walk the journey of life, and when we stray off course, as we oftentimes do, we might think that Jesus would be upset with us and that Jesus would want to stay away.

4

It is incredible, fantastic, that when we are going the wrong direction, how often Jesus mysteriously shows up out of nowhere, and how, in his mercy and love, how he walks with us, and with his amazing grace, get us back on the right path, gets us turned around in the right direction, and gets us reconnected to him.

Jesus is our constant companion on the journey of life and he walks with us and he talks with us.

It is enough to make a person sing: And he walks with me and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.

5