Dear brothers and sisters,

The liturgical season of Easter celebrates the mystery of the risen Lord. For 40 days, before ascending into Heaven, Christ manifested himself to His disciples in the reality of his glorified body and thus ended the work that he had carried out for years in their imperfect souls. He taught them, he strengthened them, he accompanied them in their initial sadness and led them to faith in the great event of the Resurrection. As the first reading reminded us, they would be brave witnesses before the world of this great event, extending to peoples of all times and places, the conviction that it was impossible for Jesus to be held in the throes of death. That is to say, that Christ is alive and is the purpose and the meaning of the life of every man, of every person. 

The Gospel this Sunday transports us, once again, to one of the many roads of Judea; the road that began in Jerusalem, the Holy City, and reached the now lost village of Emmaus. This week, at the daily Masses, we have spoken of the enormous grace of being able to visit the same places in which the events that we read in Holy Scripture took place. Well, I have walked this path of which the Word of God speaks this Sunday. 

I walked it on April 2nd two years ago on Monday of Easter Week. More than 22 miles that ended in the ruins of a 4th-century Byzantine church that according to the testimony of Saint Jerome, rose above the house of Cleopas, one of the two disciples in today's account. There, just as it happened then, my journey ended at sunset, with the day ending with the risen Lord at the Eucharistic table and in the breaking of bread.

We have not heard a fairy tale, dear brothers and sisters. This story really happened, its protagonists were flesh and blood people like us. In fact, the story of "the disciples of Emmaus" continues unceasingly in the life of the Church. Along the paths of history, the risen Christ has always walked with his apostles. He has accompanied us, especially in the most difficult moments. He has explained the Scriptures to us and he has broken the bread for us. Likewise, the page we have heard is a wonderful description of what Holy Mass is in its two fundamental parts: the Liturgy of the Word, in which Christ himself speaks to us; and the Liturgy of the Eucharist in which the risen Lord, at the altar table in the person of the priest, blesses the bread and gives it to his brothers and sisters as food for our hope.

Perhaps that is the central teaching of our Gospel today: the relationship between the Eucharist and the risen Christ. The Lord is not far from us. The gaze of his Heart continually watches over his friends. Jesus is close to those who suffer and are weary and he enters our homes when we invite him in.

My soul aches thinking of all of you who in these days cannot sit at the table of the Risen One and eat the living Bread of the Eucharist. We are all like those two men who left Jerusalem defeated by sadness and despair. Like you, they were also disappointed men: "We waited” - they confess to the mysterious wayfarer who comes their way – “we hoped that Jesus was going to liberate Israel but ... but ... the one we trusted ... has been buried for 3 days."

Yes, these disciples are an image of the Church in the current circumstances. Many disciples also leave the Apostles today because they are equally disappointed. Their hearts have filled with doubts, with darkness, even with anger. The Church of today is too similar to the disciples hidden in the Upper Room, with the doors closed for fear of the Jews. (Jn 20:19) The bishops and priests have also locked the doors of their churches and we do not know how long this situation will continue. And, faced with the attitude of some shepherds who withdraw, who shut themselves away, these two men, and many more with them in these days, decide to move away. After all, who wants to belong to a group of fearful and cowardly men?

Dear brothers and sisters, today the risen Christ comes to seek you, wherever you are. The Good Shepherd does not remain where he is, but goes out onto the road and pursues us until he finds us. What a beautiful image this is of Jesus talking to these two hopeless men! He asks them, as if he did not know, to give them the opportunity to reveal what they are feeling and thinking, and listens to them lovingly and patiently. “Tell me everything - the Lord would be thinking. It is good for you to show it to me. To heal your wound, the infection must first come out of your injured, bitter and sad hearts.” Jesus listens, and those men vent to the stranger. They need to share what they have, perhaps with tears in their eyes.

I sincerely want to thank all of you who in recent weeks have made me a participant in your suffering, your disappointment, your pain. I appreciate your trust. You must know that hidden in me it was Jesus who was listening to you, who was walking with you in these days of trial. You couldn't leave that frustration inside, eating away at all your joy and hope.

And I, this morning, after having read or listened to all of you, I want to imitate the Lord and take the Word of God to give you the answer that you need to hear. If Jesus explained everything that referred to him in the Scriptures that morning, I am going to use the readings of this Sunday to alleviate your pain with his answers.

First of all, I tell you along with Saint Peter that we are strong in the test if we put our trust only in the Lord. We, humans, are fragile - we know that well. Our brothers are wrong, as we are, and therefore, we cannot put our hope in them. The second reading said: "Your faith and hope are in God." (1 Pt 1:21) If we are disappointed by what is happening, it is probably because we are still too immature in the faith. This is what Saint John of the Cross writes, “It is not God's will that a soul be disturbed by anything or suffer trials, for if one suffers trials in the adversities of the world it is because of a weakness in virtue. The perfect soul rejoices in what afflicts the imperfect one.”

Secondly, I say to you: "Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer in order to enter into his glory?" Jesus reproaches these two men, calling them "foolish and slow of heart" for not knowing how to see the events of history from a supernatural perspective. In the mysterious plan of God, the suffering of the righteous is often the beginning of a change that brings about a better state of affairs. The Lord may lose battles, but he will never lose the war. Therefore, despair is always a poor response - it will never be a Christian attitude - because we have already been told the end of the story, and the story ends well! Therefore, we cannot lose heart when we are tested.

Thirdly, I thought that you who listen to me from home are like these disciples before arriving at the village of Emmaus. You cannot sit at the table because you are still on the path, walking towards the Eucharist. This walk must increase your hunger for the Eucharistic bread. Perhaps that is why the risen Lord made them get exhausted during a long day of walking in the sun. On my pilgrimage through the Holy Land, I remember that the journey to Emmaus was undoubtedly one of the most exhausting of the entire trip. In my dog-eared Moleskin notebook where I jotted down the memories of each day at the end of the day, I wrote two observations: "My heels are crushed." and "I'm aching all over." Perhaps, with this experience, the Lord wants you to feel more hunger for Him so that the next time you receive Him after the weariness of this long and painful road that you are traveling, your hearts will devour Holy Communion with more love, with more faith, and with more desire for holiness.

Fourth, "Did not our hearts burn within us as he spoke to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" It is true that, until the doors of the churches are opened to you again, dear brothers and sisters, many of you do not have access to the bread of the Eucharist. But there is something that you do have with you. You have his Word and his presence! They have put a lock on the door of the churches but "the Word of God is not chained." (2 Tim 2:9) Your heart can burn like the hearts of those men if you let Christ speak to you and you listen to him. His word is fire. His presence is the cause of joy, his closeness, the remedy for our ills.

I understand your suffering very well but think about what you have and you will prepare yourself better to receive what, at the moment, you cannot have. Christ accompanies you with his Spirit, enlightens you with his Word, he is with you every step of the way, and he wants to lift your spirits because "the table is set, the bread is warm and the wine is aged," and if you do not falter, you will soon arrive at your destination.

Finally, the Emmaus account ends as follows: "So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them …” These two men return to the Church family. They had drifted away, their heads down, and they returned with burning souls, light steps and hearts overflowing with light and joy. There is no better way to end this page of Scripture.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must return to Jerusalem. We must return to the assembly of the Apostles. We have to love the Church very much, yes, even though it is made up of men full of limitations, fears, and mediocrity. But aren't we like that too? The risen Christ is present in his Body, which is the Church. He knows better than anyone the defects of his disciples, but he wants us to help each other, to support each other, to give each other hope and, so to wait for his final return. The maxim of St. Cyprian will always be true: extra Ecclesiam, nulla salus. Outside of the Church, there is no salvation.

Allow me, then, to gather without further ado, all the teachings of this Sunday into a prayer to end today's homily:

Lord of the paths of history, look at your troubled people and come to the aid of those who love you. Light our hearts with the fire of your Spirit and walk with us in this time of tribulation. May the weariness of these endless days come to a close with the return of all your children to the altar table and that once there, we will all recognize you in the breaking of bread. Lift our hearts and help us to feel joy in listening to your Word, in the warmth of your company, in a life always lived at your side. And just as you suffered to enter your glory, we may see in the sufferings of this hour the purification that we have to go through to achieve union with you in Paradise. Do not let any of those who have distanced themselves from you and your family, the Church, get lost along paths of sadness and loneliness. Grant that they may make their way back and return to the Upper Room, with Mary and the other Apostles, where, all together, as brothers of the same Father, we can delight in the joy of reunion and in your risen presence, bread broken for the salvation of the world.