Today we are presented with a very picturesque Gospel scene. Last Sunday -Quasimodo Sunday- was about the encounter between Thomas and the risen Christ. Today we see Jesus accompanying two disciples on their way to Emmaus, inflaming their hearts and showing how they were able to recognize him in the breaking of the bread.
The Gospel shows us the importance of having a heart on fire. Only a heart inflamed by love can truly recognize Christ and rediscover new strength: “...".“And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him [...] And they arose at that moment and returned to Jerusalem.”. For a heart to ignite, it must be flammable and receive light from an external source. The heart does not ignite itself.
Today's readings show us the disposition of the heart and how it can be set on fire. A heart on fire seeks to understand faith, it allows the Word of God to permeate it. In the Gospel we see how Jesus makes an exegesis of himself to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. In his explanation of the Scriptures, he inflames their hearts: “Did not our hearts burn within us as he spoke to us along the way and explained the Scriptures to us?".
The disciples did not fully understand Jesus and spoke of Him only as a prophet mighty in deed and word. They had expected Him to be the one to redeem Israel, and the testimony of the women and the other apostles was not enough to bring them out of their depression and disappointment. Before these dejected hearts that had lost the flame of faith, Jesus then explains everything that referred to Him in all the Scriptures, beginning with Moses and continuing through all the prophets. Depressed hearts begin to come alive at Christ's explanation of Himself. Their faith and their hearts are renewed and revived.
Christ's mission in explaining the Scriptures to the disappointed hearts of the disciples on their way to Emmaus continues today. That mission continues in the law Church, and this is what we see the apostle Peter doing in the first reading and in his letter in the second reading. He explains the reality of the resurrection, which is the foundation of our faith, in the Acts of the Apostles: "Then Peter, standing up with the Eleven, raised his voice and with all solemnity declared before them: [...] hear me well and listen carefully to my words.». Peter speaks with authority; he asks them to listen to his words. He then uses the same method employed by Jesus Christ by referring to David: “.“for David says, referring to him: [...] my flesh shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not forsake me in the place of the Dead.".
The authority to explain the Scriptures in such a way that hearts are inflamed now belongs to the Church and its magisterium. What the apostles and women could not accomplish by their witness alone, Christ taught them how to do. The Magisterium of the Church, good theology and reading the Scriptures with the mind of the Church are essential to inflame hearts.
Today the readings remind us that our depressed hearts, devoid of faith and hope, can truly become inflamed hearts if we allow Christ, Peter and the Church to accompany us and explain Christ's love for us. We have been set free by love, “not with something corruptible, with gold or silver, but with precious blood, like that of a lamb without blemish and without spot, Christ”and that is what inflames the heart.
