Our Own Emmaus Moments
By John Graveline, Director of Parish Life
April 26, 2026
“We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive in God in Christ Jesus.”
– Romans 6:9-11
The Moments We Remember
Being present at the moment of birth. Being present at the moment of death. The wonderful time that we had at a wedding, celebrating the love of family and friends. The compassionate presence and touch of a loved one during a time of grief or a health crisis. A great meal, with delightful food and drink and conversation with great company. A moment of sacrifice, when someone puts their immediate concerns or even their life on hold to save someone else. When a parent, child, teacher, or coach lets you know that they are proud of you and support you. Moments of deep intimacy, such as a honeymoon. When we take accountability for our faults and someone offers us forgiveness, or the times that we have extended forgiveness in our deepest hearts even if the offender will never know. These are the moments that we remember throughout our lives. So many days and months will pass by and never be remembered. But these moments carry deep meaning within our hearts and endure in our memories.
Over the past month, we have experienced liturgically the Paschal Mystery of Jesus, the meaning of his saving death and resurrection, the greatest moment of human history. This is good, but what do these 2000-year-old stories of Jesus have to do with us, living our lives in Midland, Michigan, USA in 2026?
“Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.”
– Revelation 1:17-18
Three Ways to Encounter Christ Today
We call the Gospel “Good News” because Jesus rose from the dead. When he did so, he destroyed the power of sin, selfishness, alienation, and death forever. Most importantly, we Christians believe that Jesus Christ is Alive! Not just in our hearts and minds, but really alive today in his body. We can encounter the living presence of the risen Jesus right here and now as surely as Jesus’ disciples experienced him on the road to Emmaus in last weekend’s Gospel passage. (Luke 24:13-35)
This passage is vital to us as Catholic Christians in our particular place and moment in history in that it shows us three ways in which Christ Jesus, risen and alive, is present to us here and now, seeking a deep spiritual friendship with us: through the Bible, through the Sacraments, and through the believing and beloved community of the Church. This corresponds to three central aspects about what it means to be human: that we have intelligence and reason (language), that we are composed of both matter (body) and spirit, and that we are social by nature, in an symbiotic network of relationships that define us, nourish us, and enable us to survive. Let’s examine this threefold reality more closely:
The Scriptures:
God reveals the truth about himself, about ourselves and other people, and all of creation through human stories and language. There are many wise books and teachers. But the Bible is unique. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, it has the power to change us— to transform our hearts and lives. The saints have experienced this. True wisdom comes from seeing God, ourselves, others, and our world the way God sees them and to live according to that vision with integrity. That is why knowing the scriptures is essential, why we see Jesus sharing the understanding of the scriptures with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. To know the Scriptures is to know the living and effective Word of God, who is Jesus. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 108)
The Sacraments:
We are body and spirit. Sacraments are a continuation of Jesus’ saving work in our world. Jesus enters into our most sacred moments: birth and death, marriage and family, sacrifices and meals, moments of illness, healing, and reconciliation. As human beings, we learn things through our senses. We need not just the words of God, but also his touch through the sacramental symbols of water, oil, bread, wine, etc. This healing touch of Jesus encounters us right here and now, communicating his eternal life to us in the midst of our busy and messy lives, our questions and doubts such as Jesus encountered the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Having experienced his touch sacramentally, we are called to bring that compassionate, healing touch of Christ to everyone we meet.
The Church community:
Americans tend to prize their individualism and self-reliance, but the deepest truth is that we are intimately connected with and interdependent upon one another. None of us can survive physically, emotionally, or spiritually in isolation from others. We are created though a communion of love and we are destined to find our deepest meaning through giving ourselves away as a gift of love. This is why love is the foundation of all creation, it is the goal of all freedom and morality, and it will be the final culmination of the new creation established by the resurrection of Jesus. Even though the disciples on the road to Emmaus were walking away from the church in Jerusalem, they immediately returned to the rejoicing community after their experience of the risen Jesus.
When Jesus disappeared from sight at the end of the story of Jesus’ encounter with his disciples on the road to Emmaus, he didn’t abandon us. He remains alive and continues to do his healing and saving ministry now through the ministry of the Church in Word, Sacrament, and Community. We can encounter him in a privileged way through these gifts that he has given us for our healing and redemption. May we always gratefully receive these gifts of Christ’s presence, grow in our relationship with Jesus through them, and bless others by our witness of compassionate love.
John