LATEST HOMILY
3rd SUNDAY of EASTER
April 19, 2026

Focus: Jesus is made known to us in the breaking of bread.

Function: Allow the Eucharist to help us see that Christ is always with us.

A. We've had the Wrong Impression

• Have you ever been so excited to start a new,
• Adventure and got disappointed after some time. 
• Have you ever been convicted in the mind that this,
• Is what you wanted to do. You felt a few years later, 
• You may have made the wrong decision. 
• All of sudden something or someone you thought was,
• Right for you now makes you wonder if you made the,
• Right decision. You wonder to yourself if had the wrong, 
• Impression. 
• This is not a bad thing. 
• It is human nature and we do not always get it right. 
• Sometimes we human beings are blinded and falsely protected by an instinct to believe that not all things or persons presented before us are for us. 
• And so, we recluse and return to what we know. 
• However,  not always do we see this as the case. 
• Sometime what or who is presented before us is not always against us nor does it lead us wrong. 
• Rather we come time find out it is our own lack of trust and belief that steers us away from what is good for us. 
• Cleopas and his companion show us that on the Road to Emmaus.
• Cleopas and his fellow disciple are left deflated over the,
• Past events that happened in Jerusalem. Jesus whom,
• They had listened to and followed for quite some time, 
• Had been killed by the high priest and three days after,
• His death, the woman who went to the tomb claim that,
• He is no longer there but risen from the dead. 
• This is not what these men expected to hear. For one, 
• Jesus was not the Messiah they expected. And what is,
• Even more disappointing is that He claimed to be the,
• Son of God which warranted his death by the Sanhedrin. 
• But to top it all off, Jesus’ followers now say He is risen,
• From the dead. 
• This is pure madness and it is only best to, 
• Head out on the road to Emmaus. 
• All that Jesus said seems it was not worth remembering,
• All the miracles He’d done; why hold on to them? 
• The people that followed Him; why even bother to,
• Continue being in there presence, its over. 
• This is what they thought, hence why they could not, 
• Recognize him. Everything that Jesus had given them, 
• Was a waste as far as they were concerned. Because,
• What victory can be gained in death? And what is worth, 
• Holding on to if the person who once gave them everything 
• Is no, longer there. But then all of a sudden when the,
• Stranger spoke and the broke bread with them things,
• Started to change. Hearts once numb and cold, felt love, 
• And warmth again. A meal shared brought sudden, 
• Delight and familiar comradery and here they had,
• Recognized the stranger in the breaking of bread. 
• And the impression they had of the Lord,
• They realized it was wrong. And with haste in the,
• Dead of darkness went to spread the Good News, 
• To those in Jerusalem.

B. An Authentic Impression That Will Last Forever

• Cleopas and his friend are persons we can relate to,
• We have all been down that road of disappointment,
• Feeling deflated and discouraged. But gentle reminders,
• Of why we have started the journey find its way to us on,
• The roadside. For those of us who are married we find,
• Marriage difficult at times and tend to want to walk away.
• For parents, we find our children difficult at times and feel tempted,
• To disown them. We have friends who disappointed us,
• And hurt us deeply and we wonder should we continue,
• Down this road. Even for those who are priest and deacons,
• We are tempted to throw in the towel and ask ourselves,
• The question did we choose the right path and is this,
• Vocation worth bearing? But on the roads to our Emmaus,
• An unrecognizable stranger meets us on the path.
• At work, at the food store,  words within a book,
• A story being told or even a movie, and we recognize,
• Something we once loved, we once cherished and,
• Memories start to flood and we remember why we,
• Decided to follow Jesus in the first place. Why we said yes!
• Following Jesus is a struggle and loving the people He,
• Gave us could feel like He’s cheating us. Jesus would,
• Never make it in marketing,
• Because His method’s of advertisement are not always,
• Attractive and the end results could tempt us to demand,
• Our former way of life back. It causes us to wonder if we,
• Had the wrong impression of Jesus.
• We can recluse and go back to what we once knew.
• But we always have those gentle reminders of why we,
• Decide to follow Jesus why we said yes.
•  And those gentle reminders,
• Tell us one thing. That Jesus will never give us the wrong,
• Impression of who He is and what He wants to do for us.
• He never said that after His resurrection suffering will be,
• Over or doubts will vanish.
•  Rather He promised that He will be with us always.
• In the words He shares with us at table and,
• especially in the breaking of Bread.,
• He will be with us in the stories of how He has done so,
• So much for His people and how we will continue to do so
•  It is those small family meals that bring comfort,
• Don’t they? That is why He says take eat and drink,
• Do this in memory of me. So that every time you do it,
• You will remember what He has done for you and is still,
• Doing in you. Do not let our personal impressions of Jesus,
• Lead us astray.
• But let the reminder of Hi word and sacrament  
• Give us courage to return to house of believers,
• And proclaim what He has done and still doing in us.
• This is the impression that not only lasts forever,
•  It will never disappoint. 

Amen!