The Holy Land, which I visited six years ago, is called holy because it is where the Lord was born and lived. The name Holy Land makes us think, by contrast, that there is another kind of land, an ordinary land if you will. That ordinary land is all other nations, ours included.

At the time of my trip to the Holy Land, I was self-conscious that I was leaving the “ordinary” land where I had lived all my life and was entering the Holy Land. Inside the Holy Land we may think of a territory in circles of holiness. The outer circle is all the territory except Jerusalem. The inner circle is where the Holy City of Jerusalem is located. This inner circle at the center is where holiness is greatest. Even inside the Holy City itself, the church of the Holy Sepulcher is considered the most holy place since in that location the Lord died and was risen.

Saint Luke tells us in the gospel that on the evening of the day of the Lord’s Resurrection, two of his disciples leave the City of Jerusalem for a village called Emmaus, about seven miles away. After being in the heart of holiness itself, these two disciples now leave for a place of lesser holiness.

I remember celebrating Mass in a church that commemorates the Lord’s appearance at Emmaus. That church was built by the site of a stream of water at approximately the distance Saint Luke tells us. It is believed that the two disciples stopped at an Inn located where there was water.

Saint Luke tells us that the Risen Lord joins the two pilgrims on their journey while they are talking about what just occurred in Jerusalem. The two disciples do not recognize the Lord. They are deeply saddened because of the Lord’s death. They are disappointed and hopeless. However, they are aware of the event of the Lord’s Resurrection, and do not understand it. They left the Holy City confused. They have been exposed to the greatest news we may have in this life to be hopeful and joyful. They know the greatest news that should have made anyone stay in the city and celebrate with the community of believers. And yet, they missed the point.  

The Lord explains to them the writings of the Prophets and the Psalms that foretold what just happened to him. The Lord rebukes them for their slow hearts to believe. As night approaches, and they arrive at the village, the Lord gives the impression he is going on farther. The two disciples urge him to stay with them. Inside the house, the Lord then reveals himself to them in the breaking of bread. With their eyes wide open to being in the Risen Lord’s presence and the Good News, the Lord vanishes from their sight. They immediately return to the Holy City and join the Apostles and all the other disciples.

These two disciples are given to us as examples of hope and faith that apply to us even today. Many people are filled with faith but feel they do not understand. These two disciples believe that the Lord is the Messiah but do not understand why he died. They do not understand what the holy women told them and the meaning of the empty tomb. We identify ourselves with these two disciples. The Lord comes to them when they are saddened and disappointed. We may think of them as blessed people because their life circumstances attracted the Lord towards them, and they were the privileged people who listened to the best homily ever preached on the Resurrection by no other than the Lord himself!

The story of the disciples of Emmaus is one of the best images of the Holy Eucharist that we have in Holy Scriptures. Firstly, the Lord himself comes to our encounter to help us, with his Words and explanation, make sense of our life. And secondly, the Lord breaks the bread for us, Holy Bread that is the Lord himself.

We come to Mass to often realize that our paths in life, instead of having stayed in the realm or radius of holiness, have strayed from it in pursuit of places less holy and even unholy. The exercise of the Mass turns us back to the center where holiness is greatest, to God himself.

Let us humbly ask the Risen Lord to not let us stray from his radius of holiness, and to quickly come to our way when we do.