Homily Luke 24:13–35
April 19, 2026
“Recognizing Christ in Our Lives.”
The Road to Emmaus
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach, CA
“Were not our hearts burning within us?”
Today we walk the road to Emmaus. Two disciples, hearts
heavy, hopes shattered, walk away from Jerusalem. They walk away from the place
where they thought God would act. They walk away from the Cross, away from the
empty tomb, away from the community of believers.
And yet—Jesus walks right beside them. And they don’t
even recognize Him.
This Gospel is not just a story about two disciples 2,000
years ago. It is a story about us. Because Christ is constantly present in our
lives—in ways we often fail to see, fail to acknowledge, or we just simply
overlook.
Today I want to reflect on three ways Christ walks with
us, often unnoticed:
- Christ
present in the ordinary encounters of daily life
- Christ
present in our blessings and graces
- Christ
present in our struggles and crosses
- And
finally, Christ present—fully, unmistakably—in the Breaking of the Bread –
The Eucharist
1. First, we can see Christ present in the ordinary
encounters of daily life
The disciples as they walk on the road to Emmaus are joined
by a stranger. They don’t expect Jesus, so they don’t see Jesus.
How often does that happen to us?
Think of the neighbor who waves at you every morning. The
coworker who asks how you’re doing. The person in the grocery store who lets
you go ahead of them in line. The elderly woman who tells you she’s praying for
you. The child who smiles at you for no reason.
We brush these moments off as, just “nice,” but they are
more than that. They are sacramental moments—small, quiet epiphanies of
Christ’s presence.
I remember one morning, I couldn’t have been more than 20
years old, as I was walking down the sidewalk toward the trolley stop to go to
work… I wasn’t in a bad mood, but I must have had a grumpy face. A young mother
pushing her child in a stroller passed by me, and gently and cheerfully said,
don’t forget to smile. I had nothing to be angry or even downcast about, I was
simply just, I believe now-a-days they would say “meh!” But this one moment,
this one utterance by a stranger, changed my day for the better. 36 years have
gone by and I still talk about this encounter with a stranger and how her
simple act brought joy into my life.
Christ was present. But it would take years for me to
realize it, I didn’t recognize Him.
How many times has Christ walked beside us in the form of a
neighbor, a friend, a stranger—and we didn’t see it? And how often have we
failed to be Christ to others with a simple act?
2. Second, we can see Christ present in our blessings and
graces
The disciples say, “We were hoping…” They had expectations
of how God should act. And because God didn’t act according to their
script, they missed Him.
We do the same.
We pray for a miracle, and God gives us endurance. We pray
for a sign, and God gives us a person. We pray for clarity, and God gives us
time. We pray for strength, and God gives us a challenge that builds it.
Christ is present in every blessing— in the roof over your
head, the breath in your lungs, the food on your table, the people who love
you, the opportunities you’ve been given, the talents you’ve received.
But we often treat these blessings as ordinary, as expected,
as “just life.”
We forget that every good thing is a kiss from God.
The disciples walked with the Resurrection Himself and
thought He was just another traveler. We walk with blessings every day and
think they are just coincidences.
3. We can also see Christ present in our struggles and
crosses
This is probably the hardest one.
The disciples were grieving. They were confused. They were
disappointed. They were hurting.
And Jesus walked with them there—in the pain, not
after it.
Christ is present not only in our joys but in our wounds:
- In the
illness that humbles us
- In the
financial struggle that teaches us trust
- In the
family conflict that calls us to patience
- In the
loneliness that drives us to prayer
- In the
failure that purifies our pride
- In the
grief that opens our hearts to compassion
We often ask, “Where is God?” But the Emmaus story tells us:
He is right beside us, even when our eyes cannot see.
Sometimes Christ is closest when we feel Him least.
5. And
of course we can see Christ present in the Breaking of the Bread
The turning point of the Gospel is not the conversation on
the road. It is not the explanation of Scripture. It is not the disciples’
hospitality.
It is the Breaking of the Bread.
“He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.
And their eyes were opened.”
This is not accidental. This is Eucharistic language. This
is the language of the Mass.
The early Church knew exactly what Luke was saying: We
recognize Jesus most clearly in the Eucharist.
And here is where the Gospel becomes very direct for us.
The Church obligates us to attend Mass every Sunday—not
because of rules, not because of guilt, not because of tradition, but because:
We would have to be blind not to recognize Him here.
Where else does Christ reveal Himself so fully? Where else
does He feed us with His own Body and Blood? Where else does He open the
Scriptures and break the Bread? Where else does He walk with us, speak to us,
forgive us, strengthen us?
If the disciples recognized Jesus in the Breaking of the
Bread, then every Sunday, every Mass, every Eucharist is an Emmaus moment.
And if we skip Mass, we are choosing to walk the road
without Him.
“Were not our hearts burning within us?”
After Jesus vanishes, the disciples look at each other and
say:
“Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us
on the way?”
That burning heart—that sudden awareness—that moment of
recognition— it happens to us too.
When a Scripture passage hits home… When a homily speaks
directly to your life… When a hymn moves you… When you receive the Eucharist
and feel peace… When you leave Mass lighter than when you came… When you look
back on a difficult time and realize God carried you through…
That is Christ. That is Emmaus. That is the burning heart.
Conclusion: Open your eyes
The disciples’ journey ends with mission. They run back to
Jerusalem. They run back to the community. They run back to proclaim the Good
News.
Because once you recognize Christ, you cannot stay silent.
So today, let us ask for the grace to see:
- Christ
in our neighbors
- Christ
in our blessings
- Christ
in our struggles
- Christ
in the Eucharist
Let us ask for eyes that recognize Him, hearts that burn for
Him, and lives that proclaim Him.
Because Christ is walking with us— on our roads, in our
homes, in our joys, in our crosses, and most especially, here, at
Mass in the Eucharist.
May our eyes be opened. May our hearts burn. And may we
recognize Him in all we do.
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