The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate the New Life that we experience when walking with friends on our path to His Way.
In the Reading from the Book of Acts, Peter teaches the resurrection of Jesus and its messianic import.
* [2:14–36] The first of six discourses in Acts (along with Acts 3:12–26; 4:8–12; 5:29–32; 10:34–43; 13:16–41) dealing with the resurrection of Jesus and its messianic import. Five of these are attributed to Peter, the final one to Paul. Modern scholars term these discourses in Acts the “kerygma,” the Greek word for proclamation (cf. 1 Cor 15:11).
* [2:33] At the right hand of God: or “by the right hand of God.” (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 16 reflects on the wise and life-giving presence of God.
* [Psalm 16] In the first section, the psalmist rejects the futile worship of false gods (Ps 16:2–5), preferring Israel’s God (Ps 16:1), the giver of the land (Ps 16:6). The second section reflects on the wise and life-giving presence of God (Ps 16:7–11).
* [16:1] Miktam: a term occurring six times in Psalm superscriptions, always with “David.” Its meaning is unknown.
* [16:10] Nor let your devout one see the pit: Hebrew shahath means here the pit, a synonym for Sheol, the underworld. The Greek translation derives the word here and elsewhere from the verb shahath, “to be corrupt.” On the basis of the Greek, Acts 2:25–32; 13:35–37 apply the verse to Christ’s resurrection, “Nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.” (Psalms, PSALM 16, n.d.)
The reading from the First Letter of Peter presents Reverence for God calling us to mutual love.
* [1:13–25] These verses are concerned with the call of God’s people to holiness and to mutual love by reason of their redemption through the blood of Christ (1 Pt 1:18–21).
* [1:19] Christians have received the redemption prophesied by Isaiah (Is 52:3), through the blood (Jewish symbol of life) of the spotless lamb (Is 53:7, 10; Jn 1:29; Rom 3:24–25; cf. 1 Cor 6:20). (1 Peter, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Luke proclaims Jesus Appearance on the Road to Emmaus
* [24:1–53] The resurrection narrative in Luke consists of five sections: (1) the women at the empty tomb (Lk 23:56b–24:12); (2) the appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Lk 24:13–35); (3) the appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem (Lk 24:36–43); (4) Jesus’ final instructions (Lk 24:44–49); (5) the ascension (Lk 24:50–53). In Luke, all the resurrection appearances take place in and around Jerusalem; moreover, they are all recounted as having taken place on Easter Sunday. A consistent theme throughout the narrative is that the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus were accomplished in fulfillment of Old Testament promises and of Jewish hopes (Lk 24:19a, 21, 26–27, 44, 46). In his second volume, Acts, Luke will argue that Christianity is the fulfillment of the hopes of Pharisaic Judaism and its logical development (see Acts 24:10–21).
* [24:13–35] This episode focuses on the interpretation of scripture by the risen Jesus and the recognition of him in the breaking of the bread. The references to the quotations of scripture and explanation of it (Lk 24:25–27), the kerygmatic proclamation (Lk 24:34), and the liturgical gesture (Lk 24:30) suggest that the episode is primarily catechetical and liturgical rather than apologetic.
* [24:13] Seven miles: literally, “sixty stades.” A stade was 607 feet. Some manuscripts read “160 stades” or more than eighteen miles. The exact location of Emmaus is disputed.
* [24:16] A consistent feature of the resurrection stories is that the risen Jesus was different and initially unrecognizable (Lk 24:37; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4).
* [24:26] That the Messiah should suffer…: Luke is the only New Testament writer to speak explicitly of a suffering Messiah (Lk 24:26, 46; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 26:23). The idea of a suffering Messiah is not found in the Old Testament or in other Jewish literature prior to the New Testament period, although the idea is hinted at in Mk 8:31–33. See notes on Mt 26:63 and 26:67–68.
* [24:36–43, 44–49] The Gospel of Luke, like each of the other gospels (Mt 28:16–20; Mk 16:14–15; Jn 20:19–23), focuses on an important appearance of Jesus to the Twelve in which they are commissioned for their future ministry. As in Lk 24:6, 12, so in Lk 24:36, 40 there are omissions in the Western text.
* [24:39–42] The apologetic purpose of this story is evident in the concern with the physical details and the report that Jesus ate food. (Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)
Rev. Jim Caime, SJ, comments that along the road, the disciples speak of all that has happened. They tell their story. They have already heard from others—the women told us…—and still, they could not believe it. The truth was not absent. It had already been spoken, already shared, already alive among them. But they could not yet receive it.
How often is it the same for us?
We do not listen because we think we already know. We do not listen because we assume we bring the truth. We do not listen because we struggle to trust the voices speaking to us.
And still, Jesus draws near. Not to replace what is there, but to open it, to reveal it, to let it be seen.
Only later do they recognize what had been happening all along:
Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way?
Perhaps the question for us is not whether God is speaking.
But where—already—has something stirred, something warmed, something quietly begun?
And have we been listening? (Caime, n.d.)
Rev. Jim introduces a poem, Old Maps No Longer Work, by Sr. Joyce Rupp as a gentle companion for your prayerful reflection.
Don Schwager quotes “The Easter Alleluia,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Now therefore, brethren, we urge you to praise God. That is what we are all telling each other when we say Alleluia. You say to your neighbor, "Praise the Lord!" and he says the same to you. We are all urging one another to praise the Lord, and all thereby doing what each of us urges the other to do. But see that your praise comes from your whole being; in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions." (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 24:13-35 invites us to notice how the story of the two disciples meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus looks a lot like the way we meet Jesus at every Mass.
The next time you’re at Mass, imagine that Cleopas and his companion are with you. Share their excitement as, throughout the liturgy, your heart begins to burn with love as you come to recognize Jesus, present in the breaking of the bread.
“Jesus, thank you for making yourself known to me!” (Meditation on Luke 24:13-35, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that in Acts the kerygma, or first teaching, that Peter proclaimed in Jerusalem is a very Jewish form of reminding them of how the history of David is linked to Jesus. Luke understood that David wrote all the Psalms. Recently scholarship indicates that many are only dedicated to David. The First Letter of Peter speaks of being brought back to show how much God has loved us in existence in all eternity. Franciscan theology presents that Jesus was coming to be part of our condition and healing our flaw was a consequence of His Incarnation. In Dominican theology, the healing of our flaws is more of Jesus' purpose than a consequence. In the second resurrection narrative, in the Gospel of Luke, Cleopas and the unnamed companion who likely is not his wife (as Luke often refers females to by name), are caught up in their own thoughts. In all three narratives in Luke, Jesus explains the events as part of God’s plan. This fits the philosophic outlook of Luke, as a Stoic, the events of Jesus' life were always planned. The disciples recognize Him in the breaking of the bread. Friar Jude comments on the resonance we have with the disciples in the experience of “Didn’t our hearts burn as they encountered Jesus in Word and Sacrament.”
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, encourages us to recognize how the soul of nature mirrors our own.
When God manifests spirit through matter, then matter becomes a holy thing. The material world is the place where we can comfortably worship God just by walking in it, loving it, and respecting it. Everything visible, without exception, is the outpouring of God. What else could it really be? When we can enjoy all these things as holy, “we experience the universe as a communion of subjects, not as a collection of objects,” as the “geologian” Fr. Thomas Berry said so wisely. [2]
When we love something, we grant it soul, we see its soul, and we let its soul touch ours. We must love something deeply to know its soul (anima). Before the resonance of love, we are largely inattentive to the meaning, value, and power of ordinary things to “save” us and help us live in union with the Source of all being. In fact, until we can appreciate and even delight in the soul of other things, even trees and animals, we probably haven’t discovered our own souls either. Soul knows soul through love, which Jesus teaches as the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37–39). [3] (Rohr, n.d.)
As the Season of Spring slowly arrives, let us respond to the invitation of the Spirit to walk in solitude or the company of close friends along paths in Nature where we are open to the universal call of mutual love for all Creation.
References
Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/2?14
Caime, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-april-19-2026
Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?13
Meditation on Luke 24:13-35. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/04/19/1546454/
1 Peter, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1peter/1?17
Psalms, PSALM 16. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/16?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Soul and the Natural World. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/soul-and-the-natural-world/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Did Not Our Hearts Burn While He Opened to Us the Scriptures. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 19, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
