April 19, 2026 • 14 mins
Fr Louis Scurti places the Revelation of Jesus at Emmaus within the historical, Theological and geographic context. Easter 3, 2026
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SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
A little bit of geography, a little bit of
location.
The upper room that we all knowas the Last Supper is located
right above the tomb of Davidthat's mentioned in the
scriptures.
You go down this alley, and thetomb is on the left, and it's
(00:29):
quite an elaborate tomb, andthere's always people praying
there at the tomb of David.
Then you go up the stairs, andthat's it's renovated from when
it was 2,000 years ago, the whatthe upper room where the Less
Supper took place.
Emmaus is also mentioned today,and Emmaus was the first place I
(00:49):
said Mass in the Holy Land.
We were on a pilgrimage a fewyears ago, and the first place
we stopped was Emmaus, a fewmiles from Jerusalem, and there
we were able to celebrate ourfirst Mass, which was an honor
beyond imagination.
(01:09):
There's a lot going on in thescriptures today.
The first reading is what wecall one of Peter's speeches,
and there are several of them inthe scriptures from the Acts of
the Apostles.
And it's basically the charygma.
(01:30):
The charygma is an old name forour faith, the heart of our
faith.
Summarized in the Creed everySunday.
Jesus sent by the Father, He didgood works, He was crucified, He
died, He resurrected, and He'sseen among us.
(01:51):
That's the charisma, the heartof our faith.
So this Sunday, as we celebratethe third Sunday of Easter, we
have the opportunity to locateour history geographically and
theologically from thescriptures and from the
references in scriptures.
(02:12):
And this should give us greatjoy because the summation of
these readings is at the table.
Jesus is walking along, going onhis way to Emmaus with two of
his friends, one possibly hiscousin, Cleopas.
We don't know exactly, butusually he's referred to as one
(02:36):
of the relatives of Jesus, sonof Mary of Cleopas.
And they're talking about Jesus,but they don't recognize him.
They're talking about him andall the things that he could
have done and shoulda, couldhave, would have, and they're
going on and they're depressed,and they're walking away from
Jerusalem on the way to Emmaus.
(03:00):
Jerusalem is where it happens.
Jerusalem is the place.
Everything in the Gospels,especially in Luke, mentioning
Jerusalem, people are going toJerusalem.
You don't leave Jerusalem.
And theologically, it's theplace in which all this happens.
(03:21):
The miracles, the crucifixion,the resurrection.
But we don't know that yet.
These two friends of Jesus arewalking along in all sincerity
and didn't happen.
But you heard some women.
Now, problem with women in thosedays, you need two or more
(03:46):
people who are not women totestify to an event, to prove
it.
And who comes running into wherethe disciples are?
Two women.
So it's like, oh, here we go.
Hysterical women, that's aterrible characterization, I
(04:06):
know, but it's 2,000 years old.
So here we go again.
Hysterical women saying thatJesus is alive, they see him and
all that.
Now, think of our own historiesas Christians.
We have the whole history ofJesus coming written to us
(04:28):
tonight from the Acts of theApostles.
He was foretold.
We have the words of David, theprophet, who foretold that he
would come.
Didn't name him, but foretoldthat it would be the Messiah and
that he would give life.
So that's our antiquity.
(04:49):
Then we go into contemporarytimes in which the two disciples
are discussing all these greatthings we thought Jesus would
have been.
And who, lo and behold, startswalking with them.
Now it's significant that Emmausis seven miles from Jerusalem
(05:12):
and that they're walking awayfrom Jerusalem.
They're walking away from whereit all happens.
They're walking away from theheart of their faith.
They don't know yet.
They will.
They will come to find out.
So Jesus appears to them andstarts walking along with them,
(05:34):
and they don't recognize him.
I don't know what the glorifiedbody of Jesus looked like.
You remember he appeared on thesame night that they're talking
about, the night of theresurrection, and the disciples
were behind locked doors, and heappeared to them, even though
the doors were locked, and hebreathed on them and gave them
(05:59):
the Holy Spirit.
And they started believing it'strue.
He's back from the dead, he'sresurrected, he's alive, stays
with them a little few moments.
We heard this in the last twoweeks' gospels, and then he
disappears again.
So this transfigured body ofJesus is very different.
(06:22):
It's something that only Godcreates, allows Jesus to walk
through closed doors, allows himto leave, and allows him
something very significant.
Don't forget he said it lastweek.
Give me something to eat.
(06:42):
Not a spirit.
There are no accidents in thescriptures.
When he asks for something toeat, he's proving to them that
he's a human being, glorifiedfor a human being.
And then he disappears.
And then we hear the story ofthe women.
(07:04):
They saw angels at the tomb.
Go to your brothers and tellthem that Jesus is alive.
This is our history.
See, we've celebrated Easter.
This is the third Sunday ofEaster we celebrated a few weeks
ago.
This is us.
This is about us.
(07:24):
This is our history of thebeginnings of our faith in the
resurrected Lord.
He's with us now as we read thescriptures.
He's with us when we go home.
He's with us when we gopartying.
He's visited the sick, visitingfriends.
He's with us.
(07:45):
He broke through the barriers ofdeath.
So they continue, and it'sgetting dark, and as anybody
would politely say, I'm goingfurther.
And they, well, you know, theinn is right here.
Come on in, stay with us.
I'm sure they have another room.
And he goes in.
(08:06):
Now he's already explained tothem who he is theologically.
He didn't say, yo, there's Jesushere.
No, no, he didn't do that.
He explained to them thefulfillment of the prophets.
Remember what David said, whatMoses said, remember all the
prophets.
Remember all the things thateven Isaiah said, that this
(08:28):
Messiah had to be crucified, hadto die.
But not one bone would bebroken.
See, you can imagine thedisciples scratching their
heads, yeah, but like all of us.
God is with you.
Yeah, but does he know what'sgoing on in my life?
(08:51):
Yes.
God is with you.
Yeah, but you know, if he werewith me, I wouldn't have done
this.
Or if he was stronger, Iwouldn't have done that.
Or who knows?
Doubt.
Number Thomas, doubt.
Very popular.
It proves we're human.
And as Jesus is continuing withthem, they sit down to a meal.
(09:17):
And this is the most aweshattering event in their lives.
He sat down, and Luke uses thesame words that he used at the
Last Supper.
He sat down with them, and as hebreaks the bread, they recognize
(09:40):
him, and he disappears.
The bread is broken.
So we who are here can see himin the bread.
And what he was doing was beingone of the guys.
(10:04):
He was joining his two disciplesat this meal and fed them.
They became companions, and youknow the origin of the word
companion with bread, companies.
Jesus is with us every time wecome to church and receive the
(10:27):
Eucharist, receive his body.
Now that's just not a nice thingto say.
That's authentic.
Based on God's own word andpromise.
He comes to us.
When we say amen, we should besaying, Yippee.
(10:54):
Body of Christ?
How awesome.
The apostles describe it the theuh uh two friends of Jesus
describe it as he disappearedfrom them, as their hearts
burning within them.
Weren't our hearts burning withus?
Weren't all these synapsesclicking with what didn't when
(11:17):
he said what he said aboutfulfillment and and and the
missionaries and the the Messiahand the role of us, didn't
didn't it snap inside of us thathe was telling us something
really important?
But we're human.
Not until he broke the bread didthey really see Jesus.
(11:45):
And that's why we're here.
Because he is still with us inevery one of the sacraments, but
most evidently in the breakingof the bread in the Eucharist.
He's with us so we can do whatthe apostles did, what the
evangelists did, and what thesetwo followers who were going the
wrong way did, they returned toJerusalem.
(12:07):
That's our goal.
To go to Jerusalem and share theword.
You know the rest of the story.
You know Peter's encouragement.
You hung him on the cross, butGod raised him up.
Now it's up to us to live hislife.
(12:29):
Now it's up to us to be thebread that he broke.
For us to look at him in thebreaking of the bread, and then
look to each other as companionsin the same meal.
It's no accident that Jesuschose these two myopic guys.
(12:53):
Just didn't see it.
They didn't see it.
Oh, you could go on and on, tellthem about the prophets, tell
about Moses, tell about Davidand all those wonderful
fulfillments.
But Jesus chooses to have themsee him open their eyes when he
(13:14):
breaks the bread.
And that's why we're here.
Because that same bread is stillbeing broken at every
celebration of the Eucharistaround the world, with the Pope
where he is when he travels, tous here at St.
Anthony's.
Just as he was at that table atEmmaus, he's here with us.
(13:41):
And it's up to us to believe.
I can't force you to believe,it's up to us who believe that
that is the truth, to go out andproclaim it.
By living it, by breaking breadwith one another, and doing what
he did.
(14:01):
He loved us.
And his father would not allowhim to stay dead.
And he loved us so much that hecame back to us to break the
bread with us.
A little bit of geography, a little bit of
location.
The upper room that we all knowas the Last Supper is located
right above the tomb of Davidthat's mentioned in the
scriptures.
You go down this alley, and thetomb is on the left, and it's
(00:29):
quite an elaborate tomb, andthere's always people praying
there at the tomb of David.
Then you go up the stairs, andthat's it's renovated from when
it was 2,000 years ago, the whatthe upper room where the Less
Supper took place.
Emmaus is also mentioned today,and Emmaus was the first place I
(00:49):
said Mass in the Holy Land.
We were on a pilgrimage a fewyears ago, and the first place
we stopped was Emmaus, a fewmiles from Jerusalem, and there
we were able to celebrate ourfirst Mass, which was an honor
beyond imagination.
(01:09):
There's a lot going on in thescriptures today.
The first reading is what wecall one of Peter's speeches,
and there are several of them inthe scriptures from the Acts of
the Apostles.
And it's basically the charygma.
(01:30):
The charygma is an old name forour faith, the heart of our
faith.
Summarized in the Creed everySunday.
Jesus sent by the Father, He didgood works, He was crucified, He
died, He resurrected, and He'sseen among us.
(01:51):
That's the charisma, the heartof our faith.
So this Sunday, as we celebratethe third Sunday of Easter, we
have the opportunity to locateour history geographically and
theologically from thescriptures and from the
references in scriptures.
(02:12):
And this should give us greatjoy because the summation of
these readings is at the table.
Jesus is walking along, going onhis way to Emmaus with two of
his friends, one possibly hiscousin, Cleopas.
We don't know exactly, butusually he's referred to as one
(02:36):
of the relatives of Jesus, sonof Mary of Cleopas.
And they're talking about Jesus,but they don't recognize him.
They're talking about him andall the things that he could
have done and shoulda, couldhave, would have, and they're
going on and they're depressed,and they're walking away from
Jerusalem on the way to Emmaus.
(03:00):
Jerusalem is where it happens.
Jerusalem is the place.
Everything in the Gospels,especially in Luke, mentioning
Jerusalem, people are going toJerusalem.
You don't leave Jerusalem.
And theologically, it's theplace in which all this happens.
(03:21):
The miracles, the crucifixion,the resurrection.
But we don't know that yet.
These two friends of Jesus arewalking along in all sincerity
and didn't happen.
But you heard some women.
Now, problem with women in thosedays, you need two or more
(03:46):
people who are not women totestify to an event, to prove
it.
And who comes running into wherethe disciples are?
Two women.
So it's like, oh, here we go.
Hysterical women, that's aterrible characterization, I
(04:06):
know, but it's 2,000 years old.
So here we go again.
Hysterical women saying thatJesus is alive, they see him and
all that.
Now, think of our own historiesas Christians.
We have the whole history ofJesus coming written to us
(04:28):
tonight from the Acts of theApostles.
He was foretold.
We have the words of David, theprophet, who foretold that he
would come.
Didn't name him, but foretoldthat it would be the Messiah and
that he would give life.
So that's our antiquity.
(04:49):
Then we go into contemporarytimes in which the two disciples
are discussing all these greatthings we thought Jesus would
have been.
And who, lo and behold, startswalking with them.
Now it's significant that Emmausis seven miles from Jerusalem
(05:12):
and that they're walking awayfrom Jerusalem.
They're walking away from whereit all happens.
They're walking away from theheart of their faith.
They don't know yet.
They will.
They will come to find out.
So Jesus appears to them andstarts walking along with them,
(05:34):
and they don't recognize him.
I don't know what the glorifiedbody of Jesus looked like.
You remember he appeared on thesame night that they're talking
about, the night of theresurrection, and the disciples
were behind locked doors, and heappeared to them, even though
the doors were locked, and hebreathed on them and gave them
(05:59):
the Holy Spirit.
And they started believing it'strue.
He's back from the dead, he'sresurrected, he's alive, stays
with them a little few moments.
We heard this in the last twoweeks' gospels, and then he
disappears again.
So this transfigured body ofJesus is very different.
(06:22):
It's something that only Godcreates, allows Jesus to walk
through closed doors, allows himto leave, and allows him
something very significant.
Don't forget he said it lastweek.
Give me something to eat.
(06:42):
Not a spirit.
There are no accidents in thescriptures.
When he asks for something toeat, he's proving to them that
he's a human being, glorifiedfor a human being.
And then he disappears.
And then we hear the story ofthe women.
(07:04):
They saw angels at the tomb.
Go to your brothers and tellthem that Jesus is alive.
This is our history.
See, we've celebrated Easter.
This is the third Sunday ofEaster we celebrated a few weeks
ago.
This is us.
This is about us.
(07:24):
This is our history of thebeginnings of our faith in the
resurrected Lord.
He's with us now as we read thescriptures.
He's with us when we go home.
He's with us when we gopartying.
He's visited the sick, visitingfriends.
He's with us.
(07:45):
He broke through the barriers ofdeath.
So they continue, and it'sgetting dark, and as anybody
would politely say, I'm goingfurther.
And they, well, you know, theinn is right here.
Come on in, stay with us.
I'm sure they have another room.
And he goes in.
(08:06):
Now he's already explained tothem who he is theologically.
He didn't say, yo, there's Jesushere.
No, no, he didn't do that.
He explained to them thefulfillment of the prophets.
Remember what David said, whatMoses said, remember all the
prophets.
Remember all the things thateven Isaiah said, that this
(08:28):
Messiah had to be crucified, hadto die.
But not one bone would bebroken.
See, you can imagine thedisciples scratching their
heads, yeah, but like all of us.
God is with you.
Yeah, but does he know what'sgoing on in my life?
(08:51):
Yes.
God is with you.
Yeah, but you know, if he werewith me, I wouldn't have done
this.
Or if he was stronger, Iwouldn't have done that.
Or who knows?
Doubt.
Number Thomas, doubt.
Very popular.
It proves we're human.
And as Jesus is continuing withthem, they sit down to a meal.
(09:17):
And this is the most aweshattering event in their lives.
He sat down, and Luke uses thesame words that he used at the
Last Supper.
He sat down with them, and as hebreaks the bread, they recognize
(09:40):
him, and he disappears.
The bread is broken.
So we who are here can see himin the bread.
And what he was doing was beingone of the guys.
(10:04):
He was joining his two disciplesat this meal and fed them.
They became companions, and youknow the origin of the word
companion with bread, companies.
Jesus is with us every time wecome to church and receive the
(10:27):
Eucharist, receive his body.
Now that's just not a nice thingto say.
That's authentic.
Based on God's own word andpromise.
He comes to us.
When we say amen, we should besaying, Yippee.
(10:54):
Body of Christ?
How awesome.
The apostles describe it the theuh uh two friends of Jesus
describe it as he disappearedfrom them, as their hearts
burning within them.
Weren't our hearts burning withus?
Weren't all these synapsesclicking with what didn't when
(11:17):
he said what he said aboutfulfillment and and and the
missionaries and the the Messiahand the role of us, didn't
didn't it snap inside of us thathe was telling us something
really important?
But we're human.
Not until he broke the bread didthey really see Jesus.
(11:45):
And that's why we're here.
Because he is still with us inevery one of the sacraments, but
most evidently in the breakingof the bread in the Eucharist.
He's with us so we can do whatthe apostles did, what the
evangelists did, and what thesetwo followers who were going the
wrong way did, they returned toJerusalem.
(12:07):
That's our goal.
To go to Jerusalem and share theword.
You know the rest of the story.
You know Peter's encouragement.
You hung him on the cross, butGod raised him up.
Now it's up to us to live hislife.
(12:29):
Now it's up to us to be thebread that he broke.
For us to look at him in thebreaking of the bread, and then
look to each other as companionsin the same meal.
It's no accident that Jesuschose these two myopic guys.
(12:53):
Just didn't see it.
They didn't see it.
Oh, you could go on and on, tellthem about the prophets, tell
about Moses, tell about Davidand all those wonderful
fulfillments.
But Jesus chooses to have themsee him open their eyes when he
(13:14):
breaks the bread.
And that's why we're here.
Because that same bread is stillbeing broken at every
celebration of the Eucharistaround the world, with the Pope
where he is when he travels, tous here at St.
Anthony's.
Just as he was at that table atEmmaus, he's here with us.
(13:41):
And it's up to us to believe.
I can't force you to believe,it's up to us who believe that
that is the truth, to go out andproclaim it.
By living it, by breaking breadwith one another, and doing what
he did.
(14:01):
He loved us.
And his father would not allowhim to stay dead.
And he loved us so much that hecame back to us to break the
bread with us.
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