Third Sunday of Easter – 19th April 2026
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today’s Gospel speaks about two disciples who are leaving Jerusalem. They are sad, disappointed, with heavy hearts. Everything they hoped for seems lost. Jesus has died. Their dream has fallen apart. And now they walk along the road, talking, trying to understand, but without light.
It is a road we also know. There are moments in life when we leave our “Jerusalem” – the place of hope – and walk towards “Emmaus,” towards confusion and discouragement. Moments when we say, “We had hoped… but it did not happen.” Moments when faith feels far away and God seems silent. And exactly on this road, Jesus comes close to them.
He does not stop them. He does not tell them immediately who he is. He walks with them. He listens. He asks questions. He enters into their story. It is a very beautiful detail: God does not force himself into our lives, but comes close gently, step by step.
But the Gospel says their eyes were kept from recognising him. Jesus is there, next to them, and still, they do not see him. How often does this happen to us? God is close, but we do not recognise him. He is in a word that comforts us, in a person who helps us, in the silence of prayer, but we are too focused on our problems to see.
Jesus begins to explain the Scriptures to them. He speaks about the meaning of suffering, about God’s plan, about the fact that the journey does not end at the cross. And without realising it, something begins to change in their hearts.
Later they say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way?”
This is faith: not only understanding with the mind, but feeling the heart on fire. There are moments when God does not change the situation around us, but he changes our hearts. And suddenly, the road does not seem so heavy.