Third Sunday of Easter

He Walks With Us

Today’s Gospel is very real and very human. Two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem, walking away from everything that had just happened, and you can hear it in their words: “We were hoping…” Not “we are hoping,” but “we were hoping.” Something in them has shifted. They had trusted, they had believed, and now they are trying to make sense of it all. So they leave. They leave Jerusalem—the place where everything happened, the place where the Resurrection was first announced—and they walk away. And yet, that is exactly where Jesus meets them. Not when they are strong in faith, not when they have it all together, but while they are walking in confusion, trying to sort things out. “We were hoping…” We have all had moments like that—moments when things do not go the way we expected, when prayer feels unanswered, when we quietly think, “I thought it would be different.” In those moments, it can feel like God is distant, but the Gospel shows us something else: He is right there, walking with us, even when we do not recognize Him.

Jesus does not interrupt them or correct them right away. He listens. He lets them speak and express their disappointment. Then, little by little, He helps them see, showing them through the Scriptures that even the suffering, even the cross, was not the end—it was part of something greater. This is what we hear in Acts as well, where Peter stands and proclaims boldly that what happened to Jesus was not a failure but part of God’s plan. And this is the same Peter who once denied Jesus. Something has changed. We see that same change beginning in the disciples as their hearts begin to burn within them, even before they fully understand. Then comes the moment: Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them—and their eyes are opened. They recognize Him, not on the road or in the explanation, but in the breaking of the bread.

That moment points us directly to the Eucharist. If we want to recognize Christ in our lives, if we are looking for clarity, strength, or direction, we find Him here at the altar. Just like those disciples, we come with questions, with things we do not fully understand, and here He makes Himself known. He may not answer every question, but He reminds us that He is present, that He is alive, and that He is with us. And once they recognize Him, everything changes. They do not stay where they are. Even though it is late, they get up and return to Jerusalem. The same road they walked in discouragement, they now walk with purpose. That is what an encounter with the risen Christ does—it changes direction. It moves us from “we were hoping” to “we have seen the Lord.”

That is the invitation for us today: to bring before the Lord those parts of life that do not make sense right now, the prayers that feel unanswered, the things we are still trying to understand, and to trust that even when we do not see clearly, He is walking with us. And here, in the breaking of the bread, He makes Himself known. And when He does, we do not leave the same. We go out differently, with hope restored and faith renewed, because the story is not over. Christ is risen, and He is walking with us.