Homily, April 23, 2023
From The Pastor
Growing in faith is a matter of learning to look underneath the surface. In scripture, looking below the surface with a sense beyond the immediate moment increases our ability to see and know the presence of the Lord. Early in the pandemic, we reflected on what it means to be in a liminal space. It was an uncertain and concerning time. The present was changing and scary with the foreboding awareness for the future.
Liminal space is the act of being in a time of transition. It is an uncertain time of unknowing. In the spiritual sense it generally means a time of conversion or an awakening due to a transcendent moment. Everyone has these kinds of moments. Some are deeply spiritual while others simply flow with the passage of time.
Every person lives through these seasons of life. Chronological seasons note the passage of years in our developmental aging. Other seasons are marked by things like marriage, having children, a serious accident or health crisis. It may be something quite subtle or catastrophic. Many miss these seasons and their transitions only to find themselves later in life very much on the path of their earliest years.
Today’s story of the Emmaus walk is a powerful liminal moment for two disciples walking away from Jerusalem in profound grief. Mentally and emotionally lost in their grief, they fail to see the One of whom they are speaking. Not an uncommon human experience. Notice how the risen Jesus moves them into and through a moment of transition and a life changing new awareness.
Jesus engages them in conversation as he interprets the scriptures for them. Their hearts are picked, even burning at his words. They are gripped in a knowingly unknown mystery. Approaching their destination, Jesus ‘gave the impression that he was going on further.’ Distressed, they persuade him to stay with them. Why does Jesus act in this way?
Jesus is calling them to an awakening; to see the very thing they most long for who is immediately before them. Jesus is calling them to grow beyond their grief and imagine the reality he often described for them. They are in a liminal space having lost what they so loved and longed for and are very uncertain and afraid for the future. The past blinds them to the promise of what the future will be.
Jesus is calling them to an inner awakening; a new way of seeing beyond the immediate physical reality of the familiar. It is a critical time of transition from the physical to the acceptance and realization of the spiritual. He is inviting them to learn the way of the Spirit and to understand the surety of his Divine presence.
This is an essential change from the tangible reality of physical matter they are accustomed to. This is the meaning of their ‘burning hearts.’ Their hearts were not on fire. They were stirred in the mystery of a knowing unknown. Or is it an unknown knowing? In other words, they felt something they knew was very real and something deeply known to them, but they could not grasp its reality. This is the heart of the liminal moment. They are in the process of an awakening that will change them forever. This is why they begged the ‘stranger’ to stay with them. It was something they longed to know but could not grasp.
To connect this intangible moment of transcendent awareness, Jesus stays with them to make the experience physical and tangible. They enter the inn and sit at a table. A meal is served. Taking the bread and breaking it, Jesus gives it to the heartbroken travelers. Now the mystery becomes physical and connected to a previous tangible experience they had with Jesus. Their eyes are opened and they see Jesus for who he is. Now they understand why their hearts were burning. It was Jesus all along.
Why does Jesus immediately vanish from their sight? They have seen and accomplished the liminal experience and transitioned to an awakening of the risen Christ. They are transformed into a new way of being. Notice the effect of the transition. After a long and wrenching day of grief, a seven mile walk away from the scene of the Lord’s death, they are completely energized to walk back to the other disciples and tell what they have seen.
It is a powerful story that is meant for all of us. Jesus wants all of us to move beyond the tangible matter of reality and see more deeply into the spiritual reality of his presence. This kind of experience will be different for each of us in our unique faith journey. What unites us is the common table of the Eucharist. With great patience and intentional purpose, Jesus taught these disciples how to see and understand his presence. To believe Jesus is risen is the same faith that ‘sees’ the reality of the Eucharist for what it is. The bread and wine that becomes his Body and Blood reveals the living presence of the person and life of Jesus tangibly present to all of us. Ask Jesus to teach you to see. Ask that he set your heart burning for the meaning of the scriptures.
Father John Esper
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