3rd Sunday of Easter - Year A - God's Unfailing Presence & “Two Were Bound For Emmaus”
We have a desire to draw near to God… sometimes. God has a desire to draw near to us all the time. He is always present in our lives. Sometimes He may seem hidden or hard to find, but He is always there. The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus gives us a powerful example of that unfailing presence.
1) Walking Away
“That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.”
The disciples are walking away from Jerusalem. Their friend, teacher, and savior has just died an unjust death. Whether driven by fear or the crushing disappointment that Jesus had not fulfilled their hopes for the Messiah, they are moving away from the other disciples and from the last place they encountered him.
And yet—“Jesus himself drew near and went with them.” Even when we walk away from God, he walks toward us. Even in our uncertainty, disappointment, and fear, God comes to walk alongside us.
Have you ever been disappointed by God’s plan for you? When you are confused or afraid, is your tendency to run toward God or away from him?
2. Eyes That Do Not See
“But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”
Often we are blind to God’s presence in our own lives. Distraction, busyness, stress, unconfessed sins—any of these can cloud our spiritual sight.
What is keeping you from recognizing God’s presence in your life right now?
3. Opened in the Scriptures
When the disciples explain what has happened, Jesus responds not with condemnation but with compassion. He opens the Scriptures and walks them through how all of it—even the suffering—was meant to unfold exactly as it did.
God promises to meet us in His Word. Perhaps we so often feel His absence because we forget to go to the places He promises to always be.
What is your relationship with Scripture? Do you turn to God’s Word in times of distress? Have you let it sink deep roots into your life?
4. Stay With Us
Even without recognizing who he is, the disciples sense something special in this stranger and invite him to stay. That simple act of openness changes everything.
When was the last time you said to Jesus, “Stay with me”? God always yearns to draw near, but we must open the door.
5. Known in the Breaking of the Bread
“When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”
Jesus walked with them on the road. He was revealed in the Scriptures. But it is through the breaking of bread—the Eucharist—that their eyes were finally opened to his true presence. He waits for us there still, in every Mass, in every moment of communion with him.
In what ways do you need God to open your eyes today—to his presence, his blessings, or his providence in circumstances you may be struggling to accept? What might happen if you brought it to him in the Eucharist?
6. Sent Forth
The disciples did not linger. They rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem to share what they had witnessed. When people are truly touched by the Gospel, they act—immediately, boldly, and joyfully.
What bold action is God inviting you to take right now? How is he calling you to trust him more fully and follow him beyond your comfort zone?
In honor of this beautiful Gospel reading, we would like to share our latest video, “Two Were Bound For Emmaus”, a deeply beautiful Easter hymn that retells the road to Emmaus story from Luke 24:13–35 — the very Gospel for this Third Sunday of Easter — as two disciples, "disheartened and lost," encounter a stranger on the road who opens the Scriptures to them and is finally recognized in the breaking of bread.
Video can be watched by clicking here or by clicking on the thumbnail below.
