by Fr. Jesus Dumaual, MSC
MSC Philippine Province

Our Gospel Reading on the Third Sunday of Easter about the two disciples on their way to Emmaus experiencing the presence of the Risen Lord as he journeyed with them, explaining them the Scriptures, and in the breaking of the bread is all too familiar to us. For years I have been reading this biblical passage and have preached on it a countless times that I never thought there is still something new to say about it. But surprisingly, I did. Thanks to something that happened just today.

A group of people coming from different urban poor communities asked to use the Parish Catechetical Center. Actually it is newly built and already it one of the most requested venues for meetings. Since it was available and it would give us an opportunity to evangelize them we readily agreed. You see, the parish is open to all groups provided they give us a chance to say a few words to them. They asked me to give the opening prayer and welcome address. It is not much but I take whatever opportunity is given me to plug in the love of God – his compassionate love especially for people like them, the poor and the deprived in society. I am sure I have said a lot, though I do not know how much of it they were able to comprehend – all said in the form of prayer and welcome address. It might be strange talking about where to find the cr and whatever facilities we could offer them and be able to insert references to the boundless and unconditional love of God manifested in Jesus but I think I managed to bundle them up neatly together. I had to do it that way because that the opportunity given to me.

Perhaps out of gratitude for their patience in listening to my unscheduled theological reflection I was moved to buy them 100 pesos worth of bread and give them cold water from our water dispenser in the convent. Then something unexpected happened. There were twenty of them and I bought 20 pieces of bread at 5 pesos each. They were of course very thankful because of my sudden show of generosity. But instead of given one each they broke the bread and gave half to each of the participants. I thought perhaps they were reserving the other half for their other companions who might still be coming. As it turned out, they were reserving the other half for lunch. They were having a whole day meeting and they had no provision for lunch. Has rice or food become that expensive? [It has, very much, but this is another story]

Their breaking of the bread somehow opened by eyes because of the unexpected coincidence. It echoed the Sunday’s Gospel narrative. No, I would not hear them ask: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke he [Fr. Jess] spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” But could their breaking of the bread not have somehow made them see a connection, rather, see the significance of my “little talk” about the compassionate love of God? Could they not have somehow experienced in my small gesture of buying them bread which they tried to make do for their merienda as well as lunch by breaking it, the Love of God for them at that moment? Could the combination of my passionate words and the sincerity of my action not have constituted a primitive but effective experience for them of the meaning of the Liturgy of the Word and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist?

It was a humbling experience for me. I have been breaking the bread of life almost everyday. But have the people understood its significance by the way I celebrated the Mass just as much as I understood it seeing this people, uncomplainingly, with so much gratitude in their heart, and words of thanks in their lips, and smile on their faces, broke the bread, gave it to their companions and eat it? The bread of life is meant to sustain us for eternal life, the bread I gave them could at least sustain them for a day as they continue with their life-long struggle for justice and a decent life. Some day, I know these two will meet.