It's a lovely story, the walk to Emmaus. Just as lovely as the run back to Jerusalem. Lots of people have been remarking about the liturgical character of the story, and they're right. There is a type of liturgy of the word on the road, as Christ expounds the meaning of the prophecies to the surprised disciples, and a type of liturgy of the Eucharist, where Christ vanishes just as He consecrates the bread. That is to say, He doesn't quite vanish, because He is the Bread. And then the disciples return to the Apostolic congress at John Mark's home in Jerusalem to tell everybody that they recognised Christ in the 'breaking of the bread.' In Saint Luke's Gospel and in his Acts of the Apostles, this 'breaking of the bread' is code for the Holy Mass.
This is all about the Real Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, then. When the church doors are opened again, and we are all able to get to the tabernacles, we've got to remember that. We have to remember that we shall be able to recognise Him in the Breaking of the Bread.
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