Gospel (Lk 24,13-35) - And behold, that same day, two were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about eleven kilometers from Jerusalem, and they were talking to each other about everything that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself approached and walked with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are these conversations that you are having among yourselves along the way?" They stopped, with sad faces; one of them, named Cleopas, replied to him: «Only you are a stranger in Jerusalem! Don't you know what has happened to you in these days? He asked them: «What?». They answered him: «What concerns Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet powerful in deeds and words, before God and all the people; how the chief priests and our authorities handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. We hoped that he was the one who would deliver Israel; with all that, it's been three days since these things happened. But some of our women shocked us; they went to the tomb in the morning and, not having found his body, they came to tell us that they had also had a vision of angels, who affirm that he is alive. Some of our men went to the tomb and found it as the women had said, but they did not see him." He said to them: «Fools and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have said! Wasn't it necessary for Christ to suffer these sufferings to enter into his glory? And, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures what pertained to him. When they neared the village where they were going, he acted as if he had to go further. But they insisted: "Stay with us, because it is evening and the day is now at its end." He entered to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took the bread, recited the blessing, broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. But he disappeared from their sight. And they said to one another, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us along the way, when he explained the Scriptures to us?" They left without delay and returned to Jerusalem, where they found the Eleven and the others who were with them gathered together, saying: "Truly the Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon!". And they told what had happened along the way and how they had recognized him in the breaking of the bread.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The Church with the narrative of Emmaus keeps us still inside the day of Easter: we must not distance ourselves from it, we must relive it to enjoy the mystery of salvation for us and for the world. We could say that the journey of the two disciples continues with us too. Their sadness is similar to ours, to that of many men and women who live crushed by pain and violence. How many, even today, giving in to the resignation that nothing can change, like those two disciples, return to their own small village, to their own occupations and to the confines of their own personal interests? Certainly there is no shortage of reasons to resign: the Gospel itself - one could say - is often defeated by evil. We all see that hate often wins over love, evil over good, indifference over compassion. But here comes a stranger among us - yes, one who has not resigned himself to the mentality of the world and who is therefore a stranger to it - who places himself next to us. Of course, he must be welcomed. And you need to start a dialogue with him. This is what happens when we open the Holy Scriptures and begin to listen. At the beginning there is a reproach, that is, the emergence of a distance between those lofty words and our laziness, our sin, our resignation to what we live and what happens in the world. But if we continue to listen to that stranger, if we continue to open our ears and hearts to his words, we too, together with those two, will feel our hearts warm in our chests and the sadness that overwhelms us melt away. We need to listen to the evangelical words to clear our minds of banal thoughts that prevent us from seeing the signs of the times. The Gospel listened to and meditated on is the light that brightens our eyes to see God's plan and it is also the fire that warms the heart to rediscover the passion to change the world. After the long conversation with that stranger - we are now at the end of the journey - a simple prayer flows from their hearts: "Stay with us". The Gospel does not pass without effect. Whoever listens to him finds prayer again. And Jesus promptly answers her request. It was he himself who suggested to the disciples: "Ask and you will receive" (Jn 16:24). And in the Apocalypse: "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will come to him and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev 3:20). That Easter evening, Jesus comes in to have dinner with the two. And while he breaks the bread they recognize him. Seeing that gesture of "breaking the bread" that Jesus had performed at the Last Supper, the two recognize the Master. He was no longer locked in the tomb. Indeed, he was accompanying them along the roads of the world. In fact, they immediately go out to communicate the Gospel of the resurrection to the other brothers. Mary recognizes him as she calls her name, the two of Emmaus as she breaks bread with them. The Eucharist is Easter for us, the moment of meeting the Risen One, together with Mary and the two from Emmaus.