Easter Sunday Homily 2025: The Road to Emmaus and the Joy of Resurrection
Readings and Virtual Homily for April 20, 2025, Easter Sunday; The Basic Dynamic
Readings for Easter Sunday Masses:
Acts of the Apostles 10:34, 37-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Colossians 3:1-4
or 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
John 20:1-9
or Luke 24:1-12
or Luke 24:13-35
Dear Friends and Family,
Depending on which Mass you attend this weekend, you will hear some combination of the above readings. All of them, of course, enunciate the joy and the wonder of the Resurrection. I'll look briefly at the first reading and the psalm, as they are common to all Masses this Easter. Then I will go to the last of the Gospel options, in part because I have the evening Mass this Sunday, and that will be the Gospel I preach on.
In the passage from Acts of the Apostles, Peter and other disciples witness the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius, a Roman official, and his household. This event, astonishing to the disciples, opens Peter's heart and mind to the great realization that in Jesus, God has acted not just on behalf of the Jews, but for all peoples at all times. "In truth," Peter says, "I see that God shows no partiality" (vs. 34) adding that those who seek God in "every nation" are acceptable to him (vs. 35, and not among the verses in today's passage).
This realization is huge; it opens the way for the proselytization and conversion of the Gentiles, with which much of the rest of the book of Acts concerns itself. It can be surprising to us, twenty-first century believers living in a land not yet known to exist by the apostles, that Peter and the others at first thought Jesus' message was only for the Jews. That is, that they thought their mission was the conversion of Israel; after that, they might concern themselves with the conversion of the world. Rather, it was the Gentiles who flocked to the Good News at the preaching of Paul, Barnabas and others; it was the Gentiles -- our ancestors -- who came to make up the infant Church.
Psalm 118 is almost ebullient in its joy. It briefly describes the difficult path of the Messiah and then resonates with praise and thanksgiving to God. Verse 22 is the famous line, "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." This line reflects the future conversion of the Gentiles -- Jesus, rejected by his own people, becomes the cornerstone of the faith of the nations. "By the Lord has this been done," the psalm continues. "It is wonderful in our eyes" (vs. 23). The passage today concludes with the very Easter-ish acclamation, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (vs. 24).
The morning-Mass Gospels today, of course, recount the story of Mary Magdalen at the empty tomb. Luke's Gospel (for an afternoon or evening Mass) is the story of the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus. I have preached and written before on this passage and at some length. What I want to say here about it is to reiterate my conviction that these two disciples are the uncle and the aunt of Jesus, they are Clopas (whom Luke names; the translation sometimes is Cleopas or Cleofas) and his wife, Mary.
Mary is the "sister" of the Blessed Virgin Mary (that is, she is likely the sister of St. Joseph, hence, the Virgin's sister-in-law, and Jesus' aunt; we read this in John 19:25). We know from Mark's Gospel that Mary was the mother of an apostle (she is described among the women at the tomb as "Mary, the mother of James," Mark 16:1). Mary, wife of Clopas, mother of James and aunt of Jesus is a very significant disciple -- and not just because of her family connections.
As mentioned above, Luke names only Clopas (Cleopas, Cleofas) in his account of the two disciples who encounter Jesus on the road to Emmaus. The second disciple is not named and does not speak. Given standard attitudes of the time and place, these two facts by themselves argue for the disciple being a woman. But so does the fact that the two disciples live together. They reach their home in Emmaus as it is getting toward dusk and they invite Jesus, whom they do not yet recognize, to stay with them (vs. 29).
Yet another reason to believe that the second disciple is Mary, Jesus' aunt, is that, clearly, these disciples were important: Jesus comes after them, after they have left the community gathered at the house in Jerusalem. What is more, Luke tells us at the outset of the passage that the two of them were "conversing and debating" the things that had happened the past three days (vs. 15). If the second disciple is indeed Jesus' Aunt Mary, you may imagine there was a debate taking place.
Mary: "I am telling you, he is risen. I saw him with my own eyes. So did the other women. You heard the testimony of Mary of Magdala, of Joanna, of Salome."
Clopas: "Female hysteria, my dear. Entirely understandable and no one judges any of you for it. This has been very hard on all of us."
Mary: "Our nephew is alive. He IS the Messiah. God has raised him. You will see."
Clopas: "I know how distraught you are, dear."
Mary: "We should not have left Jerusalem. He said his brothers will see him."
Clopas: (Sighing) "Yes, dear. Yes, yes."
In any event, we all know how THAT debate was resolved. One of the details that I love in the passage is that, once at table in the house, it is in the breaking of the bread that Clopas and Mary recognize Jesus (vss. 30-31). Another detail I love is that, though it is getting toward sunset, Mary and Clopas race back to the community, gathered, most likely, at Joanna's home in the city, as Joanna was wealthy and her home would have been large.
This is just beyond today's passage, but as they reach the other disciples and start to tell their story, there, "in their midst" Jesus suddenly appears. "While they were still speaking" of their encounter with him, Luke tells us, Jesus appears (vss. 36-37). This time everyone sees him (except Thomas, evidently); the doubts and the skepticism of the male apostles are laid to rest.
I always want to add -- so, when Jesus broke the bread, and they recognized him, and he disappeared...Do you think Mary looked at Clopas and said, "I told you so"?
It would be remiss of me not to add this, before wrapping this one. As you know from e-mails sent a year and more ago, I came through two very hard and sad, deeply challenging and difficult years, 2022, 2023. I in fact "honor" 2023 by placing it in the company of 1984 and 2002. 2023 was one of the three hardest years of my life.
Even in the midst of it, I knew that "this, too, shall pass." I had the experience, if nothing else, of 1984 and 2002, to look back on. 1985 was one of the most joyful years of my life; a real Resurrection year. And several years which followed 2002 were also filled with blessings, the greatest of these, of course, being my ordination in 2006.
Well, 2025 is a Resurrection year for me, following the deep sadness and steep difficulties of 2022 and especially 2023. As I have mentioned previously, last year was a year of tangible graces, a year of rest, recovery and restoration. But 2025 is different. The graces are more than just tangible. They are shot through with light and joy -- they run a metaphorical parallel for the basic Christian understanding of life, the basic dynamic of darkness followed by dawn.
Crucifixions are followed by Resurrections. The desert gives way, sooner or later, to the Promised Land. I held on in a sometimes gritted-teeth sort of way, throughout 2023, sometimes saying outright to the Lord, "I do not know why you have permitted this, but I do know that nothing bad happens but that you don't bring good out of it. Can't get to the good fast enough here, Lord."
This year, the Lord is showering "the good" upon me. I'll report further, I imagine, on this year's joys in future e-mails. This one needs to wrap here, as it is 430 Good Friday afternoon, and I have the 5 PM service!
Take good care. God bless.
A bright and joyful Easter to you.
Love,
Fr. Brawn