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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: https://bibleinayearonline.com/april-oyb/?version=63&startmmdd=0101

April 23, 2026                   

(1Pe 5:8-11) Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls, your brethren who are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you and confirm you and establish you. To him be glory and empire, for ever and ever. Amen.

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On this Third Sunday of Easter, we hear the beautiful story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  Two of Jesus’ disciples—witnesses of his crucifixion—sad and disillusioned, are on their way back to Emmaus.

As they walk, they talk about everything that happened in those days in Jerusalem (Lk 24:14).  The death of Jesus—he in whom they had trusted, the one they had followed—left them deeply disappointed.  They need to talk about it.  They need to remember.  They need to share what they’ve lived through.  And yet, even as they talk, they are still trapped in the painful past.  They can’t yet see any reason to hope.

Their experience brings to mind, almost spontaneously, the recent history of the people of Nicaragua.  Eight years ago, the people rose up peacefully against a criminal dictatorship that reacted with violence—repressing and killing hundreds of Nicaraguans.  The regime has imposed a repressive police state that has stripped away all freedoms and left a painful legacy of imprisonment, exile, and death.  Like those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Nicaragua is the walking wounded—often filled with uncertainty, but always longing for freedom, peace, and justice.

When we carry such a painful history on our shoulders, we run the risk of becoming discouraged, losing hope, like the disciples of Emmaus.  They were walking, but they were still trapped in the painful events that had occurred just a few days earlier, when they saw Jesus die, without finding a reason to keep going.

The Risen Jesus offers reasons to hope and new strength to keep building a better future for the people of Nicaragua.  With Jesus at our side, walking with us, the suffering we’ve endured can become a new impetus to keep going; in our powerlessness, we can discover the strength of God that propels us forward; our mistakes can become a lesson that sets us back on the right path; and our sadness and discouragement can become strength to change history.

We mustn’t fall into the illusion that the true victors are those who impose themselves with weapons.  Nor should we let ourselves be deceived by the distorted reading of history put forward by those in power, who present themselves as victims and accuse the real victims.  The Resurrection of Jesus assures us that, just as his crucifixion once seemed like a defeat, what happened eight years ago has in fact been the great victory of a people who are already rising again, because they refuse to submit to unjust oppression and to the theft of their own history.

The disciples invite Jesus to stay with them.  As they sit at table, Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them (Lk 24:30).  Then the eyes of the two disciples are opened, and they recognize him (Lk 24:31).  In that broken bread, Jesus is present—he feeds us with the strength of his love in every Eucharist.  In the Eucharistic bread, we find the strength that sustains us and the love that guides us.  The people of Nicaragua are not only courageous, but also a people who believe.  May Jesus, the Bread of Life, always sustain our journey and be our nourishment in moments of doubt and weariness.

Before that broken bread, the disciples finally came to understand the meaning of history.  The Eucharist teaches us how the future is built: by becoming bread broken for the life of the world.  The people of Nicaragua must not forget this.  It’s not about seeking more victories, but about daring to lose out of love—giving ourselves generously so that others may live, and continuing to struggle so that a society marked by freedom, justice, and peace may take shape, without victors or vanquished.

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Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 7- "On Joy-Making Mourning"

5. If you possess the gift of mourning, hold on to it with all your might. For it is easily lost when it is not firmly established. And just as wax melts in the presence of fire, so it is easily dissolved by noise and bodily cares, and by luxury, and especially by talkativeness and levity.

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