The Short Journey from D to E

Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year A
Have you ever noticed that some of the saddest and most negative words in the English language begin with the letter D? Words like doubt, disappointment, disillusioned, despair, discouraged, depression, defeat, death. These d-words can so consume our thoughts and bring us down, that it is difficult to see any way out. I imagine that these d-words could sum up how the two disciples in today’s gospel felt as they walked slowly toward Emmaus – downtrodden in their faith, disappointed in their unfulfilled hopes, defeated by the death of the man they thought was God. The Good Friday experience had left them discouraged and disillusioned as they slowly walked along the road.

But on the short journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus – only seven miles – the depression these two disciples were experiencing was completely transformed by the man who came to walk with them. Jesus met them right where they were – in the midst of their doubt, discouragement, and despair – but he did something with those feelings that completely changed their outlook on life. It only took a short walk for these disciples to be transformed. In the midst of their despondency, they were introduced to a whole new set of words, words like excitement, exuberance, and elation. It was only a short journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, just as it is only a short journey in our alphabet from the letter D to the letter E – from death to eternity, from disappointment to enthusiasm, from despair to exaltation, from doubt to Eucharist, Easter, and Emmaus.

Just about every day, we let our lives be consumed by d-words – just about every day, we can easily fall into depression, despair, or disappointment. When that happens, a stranger often comes to walk beside us, a stranger who meets us in the midst of our doubt or discouragement and reminds us that there is a new reality right in our midst, a new way of looking at the world that remembers both Easter Sunday and Good Friday, both e-words and d-words. Eternity is placed next to death, excitement next to despair, Eucharist next to doubt. This stranger points us to the scriptures, to God’s word, and to the breaking of the bread as ways to be transformed. And there, in those very human things of books and meals, our lives can be changed, from d-words to e-words, from death to eternal life. All on the short walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus.