In the last edition of this article, I was sharing thoughts about Jesus as the word – the revelation of God. I ended the last edition of this article sharing this: “as the resurrection appearance at Emmaus indicates, the very first generation of Christians situated proclamation of the Word in an ecclesial-liturgical setting. The risen Lord draws near to two of His disciples and inquires as to the subject of their animated conversation. As in other resurrection appearances, “their eyes were kept from recognizing Him”. In response to His question, Cleopas offers a summary of the events concerning Jesus’ condemnation, His passion and death, as well as an account of the empty tomb. In all, his account represents a portion of the earliest kerygma, modified by the Evangelist Luke to provide a dramatic setting for Jesus’ reply: “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” Then, retracing the typological events of the Old Testament that He Himself fulfilled in His life and sacrificial mission, Jesus “interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

Although their “hearts burned within them” at Christ’s proclamation, their eyes remained veiled. Only at the table of which He is both guest and host, do they finally recognize this stranger to be their crucified and risen master. “When He was at table with them, taking bread He blessed, and having broken it, He gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.” As the parallel passages recounting the institution of the Lord’s Supper make unmistakably clear, the meal at Emmaus, shared by the risen Christ and His disciples, is an image of the Eucharistic celebration of the early Church.

What will subsequently be called the “Liturgy of the Word,” proclamation on the basis of scriptural revelation occurs on the Jerusalem road leading to the village. In ancient Byzantine rites, preserved and celebrated today by Our Church, this act of revelation and proclamation is preceded by the Small Entrance. Originally the bishop entered the church at this moment. Now, at this point, the bishop makes his”entry” into the altar, preceded by the elevated Word. Until this moment, the Gospel book has rested upon the altar table: the Word of God remains invisible, yet is ever present, as in the period of the Old Covenant. With the singing of the Second Antiphon, the Word of God comes into our midst… To do what?