April 19, 2026 ☩ The Third Sunday of Easter

on
Luke 24:13-35

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“Open Hearts = Open Eyes”

To begin, I would like to share a riddle that seems to echo part of the scene in today’s Gospel.  What disappears as soon as you say its name? ---Silence.  Jesus, meets two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and likely, Simon.  They do not recognize him until a series of movements strike them to unlock their eyes and minds from recognizing Jesus.  Jesus eats with them, gives a blessing over their meal and breaks the bread.  It is in these actions they find Christ more readily before them.  Though Christ was present already, it is then that they saw, and understood.  In that moment, Jesus vanished – perhaps from their eyes, but certainly not their hearts.  Like ‘Silence’ that disappears when its name was spoken, Jesus seems to disappear once recognized. 

There are times in our lives we finally feel like we have a handle on things, and know God is with us.  Then, suddenly, we wonder where God went once something else comes to pass.  I truly believe that our Lord is equally present after we recognize his closeness as much as when we knew it with mental clarity, and even before we were fully aware as when our dear John Wesley might say, when our ‘heart[s were] strangely warmed.’

Wesley gave close attention to how his spirit, his heart, was impacted by an awareness of God.  Cleopas and the other disciple, possibly Simon[1], feel their hearts warmed as the hidden Jesus speaks to them.  It is their hearts that felt connection ever before their minds could grasp it.  Matters of the heart are as important as matters of the mind. 

Thomas, as we read about in John’s Gospel last week, struggled to remain open-minded.  His heart was closed to the possibilities that lie ahead in the Resurrection of Jesus.  It is only in keeping one’s heart open that we can embrace faith and the presence of God.  Romano Guardini, an early 20th century apologist, writes that “those who are called blessed [are those] that make the effort to remain open-hearted.”[2]  It is very easy to close our hearts when life’s tensions arise.  It is easy to say God is present.  However, the more we know God and Jesus, the more we keep our hearts open to experience him at every turn, in the times of ease and times of dis-ease, in the times of joy and in the times of stress.

May we strive to keep our hearts open to where our Lord walks beside us, encouraging us with wisdom in our minds, with passion in our ‘strangely warmed’[3] hearts, and with joy in knowing he is ever with us.

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[1] cf. Luke 24:34

[2] Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter. Plough Publishing House. 2003. Page122.

[3] A snippet of the coined phrase by John Wesley regarding his experience of coming deeply to faith when he felt his ‘heart strangely warmed.’