Homily for Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

In today's Gospel passage, two of Jesus' disciples are walking away from Jerusalem on the first Easter night as they had negative memories of the city. It was there that Jesus, to whom they had given their lives, was crucified. The city took away not only Jesus but also the hopes they had invested in Him. They wanted to leave, but Jesus had wanted them to stay.

Although they hadn't realized it yet, Jerusalem was also the city where Jesus was raised from the dead, where He would pour out His Holy Spirit upon his disciples, and where His message would begin to spread to all the world.

Jesus accompanied the two disciples and helped them to see that there was more to Jerusalem than they had initially thought. Similarly, in our own lives, the places we avoid, whether a physical location or a place deep within our souls, may seem dark and gloomy. However, these are the very places where the seeds of new life grow and where God is mysteriously but powerfully at work in the darkness.