Walking with the Risen Lord: From Despair to Burning Hearts

Voice over by Eliz

Acts 3:1-10, Psalm: 104, Lk 24:13-35

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

On this third day of the Easter Octave, the Church presents us with two journeys. One is a journey from crippling physical limitation to joyful, leaping freedom. The other is a journey from crushing spiritual despair to the burning recognition of the Risen Lord. Both reveal that the Resurrection is not merely an event we believe in; it is a power that transforms every aspect of our lives.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John encounter a man crippled from birth at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. He sits there daily, begging for alms. He expects a coin, something to sustain his poverty for another day. But Peter looks intently at him and says, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.” Peter takes his hand and raises him up. Immediately, the man’s feet and ankles become strong. He walks, leaps, and praises God. The name of Jesus, crucified and risen, has power that no silver can buy. The man who came expecting alms receives a miracle. He who sat at the margins of the Temple now enters it, leaping and praising God.

In the Gospel of Luke, we meet two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They are walking away from Jerusalem, away from the community, away from hope. Their faces are downcast. They had hoped Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but now He is dead, and His body is missing. They are the picture of dejection. Then Jesus Himself draws near and walks with them, but their eyes are prevented from recognizing Him. He opens the Scriptures to them, explaining how the Messiah had to suffer and enter His glory. Still, they do not see. It is only at the table, when He takes bread, blesses, breaks, and gives it to them, that their eyes are opened. In the breaking of the bread, they recognize Him. And He vanishes from their sight. They say to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Pope Francis, reflecting on this Gospel, says, “The Lord always walks beside us, even when we are sad, even when we are fleeing from our problems.”

These two stories are our story. We often come to God like the crippled beggar, expecting small alms—a little comfort, a little help. But the Risen Lord wants to give us far more: He wants us to stand, to walk, to leap with joy. And like the disciples on the road, we often walk away from our difficulties, blinded by disappointment. Yet Jesus walks with us, explaining the Scriptures, and makes Himself known in the breaking of the bread.

This Easter week, let us not settle for alms when He offers us miracles. Let us not flee in despair when He walks beside us. Open your hearts to the Scriptures. Come to the table of the Eucharist. Let your cold hearts burn with the fire of His presence. For He is risen, and He is with us always. Amen.

May God bless you all!