From the Associate Pastor's Desk
​April 18 & 19, 2026

​Have you ever been to a meeting and when everybody sits down, they pass around this piece a paper with the meeting’s agenda items. Then comes one of the stupidest questions that I have ever heard, “Does anyone not have an agenda?” Everybody has an agenda. Everybody has a certain way in which they think things should be done. And everybody thinks that their problem or interest should be as interesting to everybody else. This is the way our Gospel story begins today. Two of Jesus’ disciples are walking to Emmaus. They are talking about all the things that happened to Jesus. When somebody comes up to them and asks them what they are talking about. Their answer, in today’s language, would be equivalent to saying, “DUH!!, Have you been living in a cave?” The disciples can’t imagine that everybody else does feel the same way they do. The disciples can’t imagine that their confusion at the death of Jesus is not shared by everyone else in the whole world. Furthermore, the disciples after explaining all the facts about Jesus life, death, and resurrection, and how he was a prophet mighty in word and deed, still did not get it. They still missed the whole point of what Jesus was trying to do for they said, “But we were hoping that He would be the one to redeem Israel.” Even after spending so much time with Jesus, the disciples continued to hold onto their idea of what the Messiah should be. They were hoping that Jesus would come in and fix all the problems of their world. They wanted Jesus to throw out the Romans, restore the Davidic Kingdom, and make the nation of Israel a military power, full of wealth and prosperity. They just did not get it. They had their own agenda. Even after Jesus rose from the dead the disciples did not want to listen to those women who said that Jesus had risen from the dead. They did not get that this was how Jesus was really to redeem Israel. Isn’t this how we sometimes act? Okay, God I come to Mass every week, I say my prayers, I give to the poor. Therefore, I think you should take care of me. Because I have done this for you Lord, you are supposed to make sure that I never have any problems. Everybody should like me. I should have a great job, a wonderful spouse, a nice house. Lord, because I come to Mass, I should not have to worry about people I love dying, I should not have to worry about getting cancer because you promised you would take care of me. Jesus’ answer to us, is the same answer He gave to His disciples, “Oh, how foolish you are! … Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into glory?” We can’t enter into the glory of the Resurrection without going through the Cross. The Cross is not some unfortunate accident; some detour in the road of God’s plan of salvation. If we want to share in the resurrection of Christ, we have to share in His Cross. There is an integral link between the glory of the resurrection and the suffering of the cross. You can’t have one, without the other. So, Jesus began explaining to them all the different Scripture references that applied to Him. That must have been some long Bible study. I wonder if the disciples were checking their sundials, thinking this guy is talking awfully long. But that is not what the Scriptures tell us. They said, “were not our hearts burning within us.” They wanted even more. They wanted Jesus to stay the night with them because they just could not get enough of hearing about the Scriptures. Did you ever notice when a football game goes into overtime, everybody is excited but if Mass is more than an hour people start checking their watches. The disciples were not bored with Jesus. They were not thinking how soon before we can leave this guy. The disciples said, “Stay with us” and Jesus stayed with them and “while He was at table with them, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.” This is what happens at Mass. First, we hear the Sacred Words of Scripture, Jesus speaking to our hearts, showing us His loving plan of salvation. Then since the Bible itself is not enough, we long for Jesus to stay with us, and we come to know Him, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the breaking of the bread. What we receive is no longer bread and wine, but Jesus Himself come to stay with us as He promised. Jesus became more recognizable to the disciples in the Eucharist then when He stood right in front of them talking to Him. Let not our own agenda of what God should be doing in our life, blind us to the great love the Lord Jesus has for each one of us. Once we break through that veil of what we think God should be doing and truly have a deep personal relationship with Jesus who was crucified for our sins, we can’t wait to go and tell all the world, “The Lord has truly been raised” and I have recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. If you have not seen it, please watch the short internet video, THE VEIL REMOVED. ​

God bless,
Fr. Larry 

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