Weekend Mass

Dear Beloved Family of St. Anselm,

In today’s Gospel, we encounter two discouraged and broken men making their way to Emmaus. Their Lord and Messiah has been killed. Unable to understand God’s plan, they were now leaving Jerusalem! In this, they are much like us, who, in our struggles, are easily moved to despair and quit. This Gospel episode is in the form of a Mass: 

Gathering & Penitential Rite –Now that very day, two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus (Lk 24:13). Like them, we, who are pilgrims on a journey of life, come together. When we gather at Mass, the Lord Jesus is with us as He was with them. Scripture says, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matt 18:20). What are you discussing as you walk along? (Lk 24:17). In effect, the Lord invites them to speak with Him about what is troubling them, as we do in the penitential rite, laying down our burdens and sins before the Lord, who alone can heal us. 

Liturgy of the Word& Intercessory Prayers – In response to their struggles, the Lord breaks open the Scriptures: Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures (Luke 24:27). So, too, for us at Mass. God reminds us, through Scripture passages that repeat every three years, that although the cross is part of our life, the resurrection surely is, too. After the homily, we make requests of Christ based on the hope provided by His Word that He lives, loves us, and is able. “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over” (Luke 24:29).

The Eucharist– Christ stays with them: And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them (Luke 24:30). Later, the two disciples recall this moment as the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:35), a clear biblical reference to the Holy Eucharist. Then, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight (Luke 24:31). Through our repeated celebration of the holy mysteries, our eyes are increasingly opened, if we are faithful. We learn to see and hear Christ in the liturgy.

Ite Missa Est– So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem, where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them … Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread (Lk 24:33,35). This liturgy has reoriented them. They are now heading back east, toward the Risen Son. How about us? At the end of every Mass, the priest or deacon says, “The Mass is ended. Go in peace.” It means, “Go into the world and bring the Christ you have received to others.”

Amen.