Emmaus: Behold Your Mother

Yes, the things we can know matter, but they are not the whole.

The account of the Road to Emmaus is one of the most profoundly Eucharistic and Catechetical passages in all of scripture. It is not merely a comforting story about the Risen Christ, but a blueprint for the Mass, a rebuke of spiritual blindness, and a revelation of how Christ dwells in His Church. Saint Bede the Venerable interprets Emmaus as revealing Christ in Scripture and Sacrament, and St Gregory the Great emphasises recognition of Christ in the breaking of bread.

The idea that the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35) is a catechetical model of the Mass has been the consistent interpretation throughout Catholic tradition, especially developed by the Fathers and then made explicit in modern magisterial teaching - it shows how Christ is known in His Church.

“But their eyes were kept from recognising him” Lk 24:16

Christ is Risen! and walking beside them, yet they fail to recognise him. Traditionally, this is not read as a physical disguise preventing the disciples from recognising Him, but as a divine witholding. The disciples had heard the prophecies, witnessed Christ’s works and been told of the resurrection and yet they remained blind.

The devil knows scripture well enough to distort and use it against Christ. Simply knowing the prophecies does not gurantee faith. Yes, the things we can read and know matter, but they are not the whole. The whole is body (matter) and soul (spirit). We use the word matter to describe tangible stuff, which is a word derived from mater meaning mother.

The Word is made flesh! This matters. Made flesh in the womb of His mother. Made tangible, encounterable, edible, consummable. A flesh that death cannot overcome. A flesh that exists right here, right now, today. A flesh which gives us life. A flesh without which we are dead. Where can we plug in to this life giving blood transfusion? The same place Jesus does - in the womb of His Holy Mother.