Dancing all the way to Emmaus: And it happened that, while [Jesus] was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him . . .Luke 24: 13-35.

An episode from the comic strip "Rose is Rose" by Pat Brady:
“Late one night, while Mom and Dad are having coffee in the kitchen, five-year-old Pasquale comes downstairs. He can’t sleep. Something has scared him. The little boy seems terribly worried. So he asks, “Mom and Dad, please do a slow dance while the little radio plays softly.” Mom and Dad happily oblige. They turn on the kitchen radio and find a station playing a slow love song. Dad takes Mom into his arms, Mom lovingly places her head on Dad’s shoulder, and the couple softly dances to the music. Little Pasquale’s face lights up with a big smile. “That’s perfect,” he says. Then he yawns, “Good night, Mom and Dad. I love you!” and up to his room he goes. Mom and Dad say, “Sweet dreams, Pasquale. We love you.” And they continue to dance. Swaying to the music, Mom says, “He has funny ways of feeling secure.” Dad, still happily lost in the romance of the moment, replies, “They work for me.”

Knowing that we are loved, that we are cared for, is the ultimate security. Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (this Sunday’s Gospel) reassures the community of his disciples in every time and place that he remains in our midst always, as real as our Paschal candle, as comforting as the love of parents for their children, as certain as the coming of spring each year. Renewed by the joy of this Easter springtime, may we be for one another the reassuring and comforting love of Christ in every season of the year. Open our hearts and unclench our hands, O God, to give to others the peace and healing that we have received from your Risen Christ. May every good thing we do for those we meet along the roads we travel and who share tables with us enable them to experience the Easter hope that we have been blessed to know in our lives.

Deacon Jay