3rd Sunday of Easter (A) – April 19, 2026

St. Joseph – Wichita, KS

Acts 2:14, 22-33; Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35

Real Events (not sentiments) Change Our Life

Each one of us is familiar with events that changed the world we live in. We’re living in the world, and all of a sudden something happens—an event!—and the world as we knew it is different. Something happens, an event happens, and suddenly everything has changed and we’re living in a new world. One event happens, everything changes.

(1) One example is the event of 9/11. That day is burned into my brain—even though I was only eight. 9/11 was a “world-changing event.” We woke up on 9/12 and the world was different. Life wasn’t the same. And there are still massive changes that we still experience to this day. No one mentioned the TSA before 9/11, and now you make sure you get to the airport early to have time to get through security, buy TSA Pre-Check to skip lines. (2) COVID: that’s a “world-changing event.” Healthcare has changed. Politics changed. Supply chains have changed. Remote work and school. (3) Or even something like having a child. That’s a life-changing event. The “world” that was “your life” isn’t there any more. Life drastically changes when there is a human being 100% dependent on you for its survival. Every decision has to take this human being into account.

Ok. What’s the point? The point is that it is real, concrete events that change everything. Only an event has that capacity. Only a real, concrete event has the ability to change the world, to change our life, to change our heart. Sentiments and emotions can’t do that. Rules and laws can’t do that, no. Only a concrete event has the ability to do that.

And so our faith, the reason we show up on Sunday mornings—it’s not because of a set of rules, it’s not because of theological truths. It’s because of an EVENT. And this event is nothing other than what we call the Paschal Mystery: Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. That’s the event!

And if that’s the event, what is the change? Answer: everything. Everything had changed! Just like 9/11 changed the world of flying forever, just like COVID changed the world of healthcare and public health, just like a child changed your world—the real, concrete event of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection has changed everything in the world! Everything is now different! The world, reality has changed.

Do we accept this change? Or rebel against it?

But—and this is a big “but”—but, has it changed anything for you? Did the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead change everything, did it change anything for your when you woke up on Thursday? Do we allow this event to change our lives? That is the question. Do we allow this event to truly change our lives?

Because think. With 9/11, you could just rebel and say, “Well, I’m still going to bring my scissors onto the plane.” With COVID, what did we see? People rebelled. They decided COVID was over and went back to “normal.” With children, one of the saddest things you see is parents rebelling: living their life as if they don’t have kids. Ok: same here: we can continue to live as if this event hasn’t happened, as if it isn’t really real.

But if we’re going to allow this event to change us, then we need to be practical about it. And that is what we heard in our first reading last week. The first Christians, their very DNA—it was very practical for them. They did four things: they dedicated themselves to the teaching of the Apostles; they dedicated themselves to the communal life; they dedicated themselves to the Breaking of the Bread (the Eucharist, the Mass every Sunday); and fourth, to the prayers. And why? Why did they do this? Because this was the way they could continue to experience this life-changing event, allow this life-changing event to affect them, to change them, to transform them.

The reason we need to pay attention to these things—the DNA of the early Christians—is because even though you may know and even agree that Jesus rose from the dead, this doesn’t mean that it has truly affected you, changed you. Again, on Thursday morning, did you experience your life differently?

The Disciples on the Road Knew, But Were Left Unchanged

The classic example is the disciples in the Gospel today. These disciples on the road to Emmaus know what happened, they know the story, they probably even believe that Jesus rose from the dead! BUT—and this is a big “but”—but it didn’t change them or their life. There was a disconnect between this real, concrete fact, this event, and their “real life.” Other events and facts had changed their life: when Rome attacked, invaded and implemented new taxes; when pandemics struck their community; when they had children—these changed their life! But this? No. I mean, what does Jesus say when he is talking to them? “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe.”

And so what does Jesus do? What happens? What is the method Jesus uses to help them? Well, look. 1) there are two disciples journeying together, on the road together; 2) Jesus arrives last, and is present, although hidden from plain sight; 3) the Scriptures are proclaimed and then explained by Jesus; 4) they then sit down for a meal, and in the Breaking of the Bread Jesus’ presence is revealed and experienced; 5) this leads these disciples to “set out and once” to proclaim Jesus’ presence; and 6) ALL of this takes place on “the first day of the week,” Sunday.

Together on the Road & Breaking the Bread

This Gospel is paramount, archetypal for us. Why? Because it reveals the primary and ordinary method by which the risen Jesus Christ is going to break into my life, change me; and the way in which I will continue to experience this life-changing event. Let me say that again. This story is so important for us because it reveals the primary and ordinary method by which Jesus Christ is going to break into our life, change us; and how we can continue to experience this world-changing event.

What is this method? 1) there are two disciples journeying together, on the road together, gathered together. What was the first thing we did today? Gathered. Welcome! 2) Jesus arrives last, but his presence is hidden. Who is the last person to show up? The priest, at the end of the procession. I’m not Jesus, but his presence is hidden within me. The priest acts in persona Christi, in the person of Christ during the Mass.3) The Scriptures are proclaimed and explained by Jesus. Here? The Scriptures are proclaimed and then explained by the priest in persona Christi. 4) We sit down for a meal, and in the Breaking of the Bread Jesus’ presence is revealed and experienced. Here, in the Breaking of the Bread, in the Eucharist we experience his presence. 5) the disciples “set out and once. At the end of our gathering we are “sent out,” “go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” And 6) What day does all of this happen? “The first day of the week,” Sunday.

The Method Given

What we see in this Gospel is the method given to us by Christ, the way in which our attention and person can be sustained. Emotional experiences, just following laws and rules don’t do that. We need something to help sustain our attention, to help us remember and recognize this event even now. People forget about 9/11—they just complain at airports, forget why the security is so necessary. So what do airports do? Well, in Wichita they show you pictures of all of the guns they’ve confiscated at security. COVID: we forget how bad it was, the confusion in those initial months. Children: we forget to pick them up from school. Easily!—easily we forget the events that have changed our life, and it is no different with the Paschal Mystery. We easily forget that we are living in a different world—because of the Resurrection, we are in a different world! And what we need is a method by which we can be sustained along the way. Without it, we will forget, we will go back to “normal.”

This is why the parish exists. Do you know where the word “parish” comes from? It comes from the Greek word paroikia. And paroikia has a surprising meaning: “a sojourning.” We heard it in our second reading today from St. Peter, “Conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning” (1 Pt 1:17). A parish isn’t just a place we can go to Mass or drop our kids off for classes about Jesus. A parish is people making a journey together. A parish, this community, us—we are the disciples together on the road!

And as it was for those disciples on the road with Jesus on Easter Sunday—same for us: the Sunday Eucharist must be the central and essential and non-negotiable element of our DNA. The Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the life of the Church, the heart of the life of a parish.

All of us believe Jesus rose from the dead The challenge: to allow this event to change everything. And what is a core element of allowing this to happen? On the first day of the week, on Sunday, to be together on the road (to be a parish, to sojourn together, paroikia) and to center our life on the Breaking of the Bread, on the Eucharist. Many of you already do this; so be more intentional about it: prepare for Mass better; make all of Sunday Holy, not just this one hour; go to Mass more than one day a week. For y’all that don’t make it every Sunday: I challenge you, make the commitment to come every Sunday for a whole year—see what happens in your life when the Sunday Mass is the most important priority each week.

This is the method Jesus gave to us literally on the day he rose from the dead—and perhaps there is something here that we do not yet see and recognize, but something that Jesus wants to reveal to us, to open our eyes to in the Breaking of the Bread. “Are not our hearts burning within us?” Maybe this is is what responds to that.