The Gospel today is the telling of the story of the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) in which two disciples are travelling along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, and they encounter the Risen Lord walking with them though they do not recognize him. Upon reaching Emmaus, the two invite the stranger to have dinner with them and spend the night before continuing his journey. The story concludes by saying: “While he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” They recognized Jesus in the action of the “breaking of the bread.” Immediately, the despair of the two disciples turned to joy; their desperation turned to elation and they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples of their encounter with the Risen Lord.
Today the Church observes Divine Mercy Sunday. The central focus is our celebration of the resurrection of Christ and the floodgates of God’s mercy being opened upon us, and is based both on Scripture and the revelations made to Saint Faustina Kowalska.
As I am preparing this column, it is still two weeks before Easter. The publisher who prints our bulletins moves up our deadlines so we must submit them earlier around the holidays. With that in mind, I do not know what the next two weeks will bring, as the COVID-19 pandemic seems to result in things being changed weekly and, in some cases, even daily. At this point, the Archbishop has moved the Chrism Mass to after Easter, and the liturgies for the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday) are to be celebrated in the parish churches, but only by the Priests, continuing the prohibition against public Masses to deter the spread of the Coronavirus. With that in mind, I submit to you the following column for Easter Sunday.
Join Fr. Christopher Hallada for Adult Faith Formation online meetings on Zoom. Meetings will be at 3:00 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Interested persons please email Fr. Chris at challada@fatimachurchabq.org for a Zoom invitation.
How quickly things can change! That seems particularly true in our current time as we respond on a daily basis to the changing threat of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. But as we reflect upon the events of Holy Week in Jesus’ day, we also recognize how quickly things changed at that time as well. The Mass for Palm Sunday (also known as "Passion Sunday”) begins with the Processional Gospel (Matthew 21:1-11) that recalls the joyous arrival of Jesus in the holy city of Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey with crowds of people waving palm branches and shouting: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Scripture Readings for Mass later end with a reading of the Passion of the Lord, as Jesus is betrayed and tortured, denied, mocked and crucified. The very crowds who had welcomed him to shouts of “Hosanna!” later shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!” as our Lord stood before Pontius Pilate.