Week 1
Setting Off for the Journey
Part 1: Scripture
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (24:1-14)
(New American Bible translation with footnotes, copied to here from USCCB Books of the Bible https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24)
(New American Bible translation with footnotes, copied to here from USCCB Books of the Bible https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24)
The Resurrection of Jesus.
1But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
5They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
6He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”
8And they remembered his words.
9Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others.
10The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
11but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them.
12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.
13Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles* from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
14and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
1But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
5They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
6He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”
8And they remembered his words.
9Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others.
10The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
11but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them.
12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.
13Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles* from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
14and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
NOTES:
* [24:1–53] The resurrection narrative in Luke consists of five sections:
(1) the women at the empty tomb (Lk 23:56b–24:12);
(2) the appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Lk 24:13–35);
(3) the appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem (Lk 24:36–43);
(4) Jesus’ final instructions (Lk 24:44–49);
5) the ascension (Lk 24:50–53).
In Luke, all the resurrection appearances take place in and around Jerusalem; moreover, they are all recounted as having taken place on Easter Sunday. A consistent theme throughout the narrative is that the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus were accomplished in fulfillment of Old Testament promises and of Jewish hopes (Lk 24:19a, 21, 26–27, 44, 46). In his second volume, Acts, Luke will argue that Christianity is the fulfillment of the hopes of Pharisaic Judaism and its logical development (see Acts 24:10–21).
* [24:6] He is not here, but he has been raised: this part of the verse is omitted in important representatives of the Western text tradition, but its presence in other text types and the slight difference in wording from Mt 28:6 and Mk 16:6 argue for its retention.
* [24:9] The women in this gospel do not flee from the tomb and tell no one, as in Mk 16:8 but return and tell the disciples about their experience. The initial reaction to the testimony of the women is disbelief (Lk 24:11).
* [24:12] This verse is missing from the Western textual tradition but is found in the best and oldest manuscripts of other text types.
* [24:13] Seven miles: literally, “sixty stades.” A stade was 607 feet. Some manuscripts read “160 stades” or more than eighteen miles. The exact location of Emmaus is disputed.
* [24:1–53] The resurrection narrative in Luke consists of five sections:
(1) the women at the empty tomb (Lk 23:56b–24:12);
(2) the appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Lk 24:13–35);
(3) the appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem (Lk 24:36–43);
(4) Jesus’ final instructions (Lk 24:44–49);
5) the ascension (Lk 24:50–53).
In Luke, all the resurrection appearances take place in and around Jerusalem; moreover, they are all recounted as having taken place on Easter Sunday. A consistent theme throughout the narrative is that the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus were accomplished in fulfillment of Old Testament promises and of Jewish hopes (Lk 24:19a, 21, 26–27, 44, 46). In his second volume, Acts, Luke will argue that Christianity is the fulfillment of the hopes of Pharisaic Judaism and its logical development (see Acts 24:10–21).
* [24:6] He is not here, but he has been raised: this part of the verse is omitted in important representatives of the Western text tradition, but its presence in other text types and the slight difference in wording from Mt 28:6 and Mk 16:6 argue for its retention.
* [24:9] The women in this gospel do not flee from the tomb and tell no one, as in Mk 16:8 but return and tell the disciples about their experience. The initial reaction to the testimony of the women is disbelief (Lk 24:11).
* [24:12] This verse is missing from the Western textual tradition but is found in the best and oldest manuscripts of other text types.
* [24:13] Seven miles: literally, “sixty stades.” A stade was 607 feet. Some manuscripts read “160 stades” or more than eighteen miles. The exact location of Emmaus is disputed.
“The Journey” is one of the great metaphors throughout scripture, from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation there are people on the move:
OLD TESTAMENT:
OLD TESTAMENT:
- Abraham, following the call of God, journeys from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan (Genesis 12)
- Joseph, unwillingly, journeys from Canaan to Eygpt (Genesis 37)
- God’s people, starved, journey from drought and famine to Eygpt, where they are enslaved (Genesis 42-46)
- God’s people, led by Moses, journey from slavery to freedom (Exodus)
- Ruth and Naomi journey together from Moab to Bethlehem (Ruth)
- God’s people, captured by the Babylonian Empire, endure forced journey and exile (2 Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah)
- God’s people, released from exile, journey back to Jerusalem (Ezra, Nehemiah)
- In the account of the birth of Jesus in Matthew, the magi journey from the East, find Jesus in Bethlehem, and return home. The Holy Family flee to Egypt in response to an angel’s message to Joseph, and because of another angelic message to Joseph journey in safety to Nazareth.
- In the account of the birth of Jesus in Luke, Mary journeys to the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to answer a census, go from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to present the baby Jesus in the Temple, and returned to Nazareth “when they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord” (Lk2:39).
- Jesus himself journeys through Palestine, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God. (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
- Paul and the Apostles journey throughout the Roman Empire. (Acts)
In Luke's gospel and in Acts of the Apostles, Jerusalem is the center of all journeys. Only in Luke's gospel do the Holy Family journey to Jerusalem to present the child Jesus in the Temple. From there, they return home to Nazareth in Galilee. When Jesus enters begins his public ministry, it is shown in this gospel to be a journey toward Jerusalem. There he suffers, dies, and is buried, at which point we have this passage of short journeys -- three women to the tomb for duty and in sorrow, and away from the tomb in faithful witness. Their witness is disbelieved by the apostles, we are told, but Peter has heard enough to desire to go to the tomb himself. Two disciples, the two in verse 13, heard of their witness and left town.
In the remainder of this gospel and in Acts of the Apostles, journeys will begin from Jerusalem and go outward to the rest of the world with good news.
In the remainder of this gospel and in Acts of the Apostles, journeys will begin from Jerusalem and go outward to the rest of the world with good news.
REFLECTION:
Place yourself in the person of either one of the women who went to the tomb and witnessed, or Saint Peter, or the disciples who left town. What would your thoughts be? Where would your faith be at that moment? What do you think you would do next...where do you think you are headed?
Place yourself in the person of either one of the women who went to the tomb and witnessed, or Saint Peter, or the disciples who left town. What would your thoughts be? Where would your faith be at that moment? What do you think you would do next...where do you think you are headed?
THE MORE YOU KNOW...
If you want to dig deeply into the pattern of journeys in Luke's gospel and Acts, read THIS ARTICLE, Floyd V. Filson, “The Journey Motif in Luke-Acts," W. Ward Gasque & Ralph P. Martin, eds., Apostolic History and the Gospel. Biblical and Historical Essays Presented to F.F. Bruce. Exeter: The Paternoster Press, 1970. Hbk. ISBN: 085364098X. pp.68-77.
If you want to dig deeply into the pattern of journeys in Luke's gospel and Acts, read THIS ARTICLE, Floyd V. Filson, “The Journey Motif in Luke-Acts," W. Ward Gasque & Ralph P. Martin, eds., Apostolic History and the Gospel. Biblical and Historical Essays Presented to F.F. Bruce. Exeter: The Paternoster Press, 1970. Hbk. ISBN: 085364098X. pp.68-77.
Part 2: A Life of Journeys
Saint Katharine Drexel
REFLECTION:
Imagine Bishop O'Connor trying to convince Katie Drexel that she needed to put off her call to vowed religious life. If you were a friend of either person at the time, what would you have counseled her or him about this call?
Why do you think Pope Leo XIII responded as he did to Katharine Drexel's request?
Have you ever had an experience of knowing you needed to follow a certain path, but getting conflicting advice from well-intentioned people?
How do you help those aroud you to hear what God is communicating to them? How do you accompany them on their journey?
Imagine Bishop O'Connor trying to convince Katie Drexel that she needed to put off her call to vowed religious life. If you were a friend of either person at the time, what would you have counseled her or him about this call?
Why do you think Pope Leo XIII responded as he did to Katharine Drexel's request?
Have you ever had an experience of knowing you needed to follow a certain path, but getting conflicting advice from well-intentioned people?
How do you help those aroud you to hear what God is communicating to them? How do you accompany them on their journey?