Wednesday in the Octave of Easter – The Road to Emmaus

Wednesday, April 12th, 2023 Gospel Reflection

“Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures.” (Lk 24:27)

He is risen! Indeed, He is Risen! And he revealed himself through the Sacred Scriptures and the breaking of bread. The Catholic Church teaches us, “Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord himself. Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament. As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.” (CCC 129)

Prior to the birth of Christ, the Old Testament stories had been told and retold, recorded, and passed down from generation to generation. The birth of Moses, which occurred in approximately 1525 BC, was Christ’s marking point to begin the prophetic utterances of deliverance in which his followers would then, for 2,000 years, bear witness to both the fulfillment of the Old and the revelation of salvation in Christ Jesus in the New. Now, in 2023, lest we forget, there are 1.2 BILLION Catholics in the world. If we take 1,200,000,000 and divide that by 2,000 years, this amounts to 600,000 conversions a year.

And YOU are a part of that lineage. Making a friend, being a friend, and bringing a friend to Christ adds to that number. Marrying, having children, baptizing those children, and raising them in the faith adds to that number. Our history is rich, developed, and contiguous. Many have wandered away or started their own versions of the Christian faith; however, despite these separations, the Catholic Church remains the bulwark of truth. It protects the organically developed Marian theology, and “the source and summit of [our] Christian life” - the very body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ in the Eucharist instituted at the Last Supper.

“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” (Mt. 16:18)

God be praised now and forever!

Road to Emmaus is a piece of digital artwork by Michael Torevell which was uploaded on August 24th, 2014.