Friends, in today’s Gospel, two disciples meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus. He asks what they are discussing and one recites all of the data concerning him.

Then Jesus speaks: “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!” He then rehearsed for them the whole of the biblical story, showing how it culminated in the Messiah who offered a sacrifice for the salvation of the world.

When they came near the village to which they were heading, Jesus “gave the impression that he was going on farther,” but they pressed him to stay. Then, sitting down with them at table, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” Repeating the great gestures of the Last Supper, Jesus made present for them the sacrifice of the cross.

In short, he wove together the themes of the sacred banquet and the sacrifice that made the banquet possible, summing up the story of Israel that he had narrated on the road. And at that moment, when the Scriptures and the meal and the sacrifice came together as a coherent whole, they recognized him; he became really present to them.