The Cloud of Grief

In yesterday’s Gospel, we heard the story of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene.  Today we hear the story of his appearance to the two disciples who are on their way back to Emmaus.  Tomorrow we will hear the story of Jesus’ appearance to the disciples in the upper room.  In each of these stories, the disciples fail to recognize Jesus immediately.  Sometimes we explain this lack of recognition on the fact that Jesus appears in a glorified body such as we heard about in the story of the Transfiguration.  Perhaps another way to explain this lack of recognition is to recognize that the disciples are grieving the loss of Jesus.  That grief clouds their eyes initially.  Anyone who has gone through extreme grief knows that this is a very real possibility.

Yesterday we heard that Mary recognized Jesus when he spoke her name.  In today’s story from the  Gospel of Luke, Jesus is known “in the breaking of the bread,” a phrase that immediately references the Eucharist.  

Both Gospel expressly mention grief.  Mary is weeping at the tomb as she realizes that Jesus’ body is gone.  The Emmaus story not only expressly mentions the grief of the two disciples, St. Luke also sets the story on the road to Emmaus, a town that lies east of Jerusalem.  They are, quite literally, walking into the darkness.  

Anyone who has lost a parent, a spouse, a child, or even a good friend knows what it means to grieve the loss of a loved one.  The disciples, Cleopas and, in all likelihood, his wife, tell their fellow traveler: “But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.  Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”  (Luke 24:21-24)  No wonder they are “escaping” to their home in Emmaus.

In the course of their conversation, Jesus explains the events of his Passion, Death and Resurrection by citing their own Scriptures.  One might ask why they could not do this for themselves.  As good Jews they were, no doubt, familiar with the texts that Jesus uses in his explanation.  Again, grief has so clouded their minds that they are unable to come to this understanding on their own.  

Finally, their grief is dispelled as they sit around the table for their evening repast.  In this context Jesus lifts the cloud of grief from their eyes and their minds and makes it possible for their faith to break through.  

Unless we ourselves die when we are very young, we will all know grief.  Psychologists list the death of a parent or of a spouse as one of the five greatest “stressors” we can experience.  Though it is a different kind of grief, all of the Christian world is grieving the recently murdered Christians in the Middle East and in Africa.  Time usually eases the pain that we experience in grief.  The Gospel also asks us to explore the place of faith in the grieving process.  We believe in the Resurrection of the Body.  It is clearly stated in our Apostles’ Creed.  That belief can help us deal with our own grief just as surely as the faith that opened the eyes of Mary Magdalene and the two disciples on the way to Emmaus.  

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator