On the road to Emmaus, two disciples of Christ walk along with him for miles, but they don’t recognize him. Meanwhile, in St. John’s Gospel Christ tells us that he is the Good Shepherd, that he knows his sheep and, importantly, his sheep know him.
So here is an interesting question: which of these two images describes us?
I suspect that most of us want to identify with those who know Christ, but if we’re honest we recognize that we are closer to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
So why did those disciples on the road to Emmaus have so much trouble recognizing Christ?
They expected something else from the messiah. They had already decided what God was supposed to do for them. They weren’t looking for God, they were looking for their version of God. They were looking for the gods that they had constructed in their own image. They did not have a strong enough relationship with Christ to recognize him. Faith in God cannot be learned by reading a theology book. It comes from having a relationship with the God who became human.
So when did the disciples start to recognize Christ? Those disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized him in the breaking of the bread. Those sheep who know the Good Shepherd? They know him because they live with him, they know he cares for them, he protects them, he feeds them.
Where can we find Christ? We start where we are fed: the Church feeds us with the Word of God and with his Body and Blood every Sunday when we come to Mass. If we allow the Mass to transform our hearts, then we become the sheep who know our Good Shepherd and leave behind the confusion of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
But what happens next? The Good Shepherd reminds us that there are sheep he must care for that are not in his fold. When they recognized Christ in the Breaking of the Bread, the disciples in Emmaus set out at once to share the Good News. These disciples–who we don’t hear much about anywhere else in scripture–don’t wait for the apostles to tell them what to do. They know what Christ wants them to do: to share the Good News. And they do it.
In our Church, we have drifted into thinking that holiness, evangelization, and even the basics of Catholic life, of parish life, are someone else’s responsibility. That’s not how the Church works. Each of us is called to build up God’s kingdom, God’s Church. Each of us is called to share the Good News. Each of us is called to know the voice of Christ and to follow him.
Our Catholic Church, our parish, it is built on you. Your prayers. Your families. Your dedication. Your commitment to the mission of Christ. We can’t outsource our life of faith within our parish to someone else, to a book, to the priest, or to those “active people.” We must actively work to recognize Christ, to take responsibility for the life and the gifts that he has given to us, and to follow him.
So: are we walking on the road to Emmaus, talking about Christ, and missing him in our lives? Or are we living with him, listening to him, following him, and sharing in his work?