Easter
Wednesday
Today we hear (Lk 24:13-35) of the appearance of the
risen Lord by some disciples on the road to Emmaus. We learn not only of this
amazing encounter between the two disciples and the resurrected Christ, but
also, at another level, how this encounter is a model of what the Church does
for us.
The Church does for us what the risen Lord did for
the disciples on the road. First He walked with them. Secondly He gave the
‘interpretation of Scripture’. Thirdly He celebrated the Eucharist (He took
bread; He said a blessing; He broke it and gave it).
Through the Church our risen and ascended Lord walks
with us. Our pilgrim journey as disciples is not a lonely one, but one in which
we are accompanied by the Lord through His Church. The Church gives us the
‘interpretation of Scripture’, through the Church’s teaching authority (the
magisterium). We do not need to wrestle alone with understanding the Scriptures
but have the wisdom of all those who have been guided by the Holy Spirit to
teach with authority. And, the Church celebrates and most truly is the Church
when she celebrates the Eucharist.
We can come close to Jesus in the conversation of
personal prayer and meditating on His words. We find Him present in our
fraternal meetings, for when “two or three are gather in my name, there am I in
your midst.” But our risen Lord makes Himself known to us in a wholly and
qualitatively different way when we share the Bread of Life, His Body and His
Blood.
So in this Eastertide let us rejoice that the Church
is not primarily a human institution but that in the joyous encounter of the
two disciples with the risen Lord on the road is revealed a model of the
Church. We can experience our Lord’s presence with us through the Church. We
can be wholly confident in the magisterial teaching of the Church which is not
the teaching of men but the teaching of Christ through His servants. And we are
truly privileged to be able, by faith, to witness Christ Himself in the
Eucharist. Let us not take any of these things for granted nor in any way work
against them.
Fr Ian
