When We Are in Darkness

Homily for Easter Wednesday

The story we hear from the Acts of the Apostles today is an example of the parallelism that exists between the Gospel of St. Luke and Acts. You might remember that one of the first healing miracles of the Gospel involves the paralytic who was carried by others and lowered down to Jesus through a hole they had created in the roof. Like that paralytic, the one we hear of today was also carried by others to the Beautiful Gate of the Temple where he would sit and beg for alms. Just as Jesus was able to heal the paralytic of the Gospel, Peter and John heal the begging paralytic outside the Temple. Throughout this book which we will read through the entire Easter Season, we will find many parallel texts as it was St. Luke’s purpose to show that the ministry of Jesus was continued through his apostles after his ascension. That healing ministry has been an important part of the Church’s apostolic work throughout the ages.

The story we hear from the Gospel today is surely one of the most beautiful of all the appearance stories. It features two of the disciples of Jesus, usually thought of as the husband and wife, Cleopas and Mary. This Mary was one of the women who stood at the foot of the cross and who accompanied Mary Magdalene to the tomb on that first Easter morning. St. Luke tells us that the news of the day, namely, that Jesus had risen from the dead proved to be too much for the two of them. Both downhearted and astounded at the same time, they have decided to walk home to Emmaus. Scholars will point out that Emmaus lies east of Jerusalem which means this couple is walking into the darkness. They meet Jesus on the way; and after having spent their time listening to him, they invite him to stop for the evening meal. It is only then that they recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. He immediately disappears from their view. The two of them decide to hurry back to Jerusalem where they will share the news of Jesus’s resurrection.

Paired together as they are in this instance, these two readings offer us hope and consolation when we, like these two travelers or like this beggar are downhearted or dejected. Darkness always has a way of trying to extinguish the light. Jesus has declared that he is the light of the world. At our baptism, we were given a symbolic candle and told to keep that light burning. The Paschal Candle that burns throughout the Easter Season is a reminder of our responsibility.