The Road to Emmaus is not an unfamiliar trek for most of us. Life is hard. For teachers and school leaders, the challenges sometimes begin as soon as we pull into the faculty parking lot. Maybe they start before we even leave the house. It is precisely in our brokenness that God’s redeeming light can break through to give us the grace and the strength we need for the journey. The Eucharist is where our brokenness can most profoundly be transformed into redemption. It was in the breaking of the bread that the disciples on the way to Emmaus recognized our Lord. Jesus, the Bread of Life, continues to offer his life to us in this same way. By leaning into the Eucharist more fully, Catholic schools can learn that it is in following that we are able to lead our mission most effectively.
The story of the Road to Emmaus begins with two disciples walking away. The Gospel of Luke described them as “debating” and “downcast” as they were leaving the scene in Jerusalem. They were clearly confused with all that had just happened to the one they called “Master.” Sometimes our questions can get the best of us. We, too, can find reasons to walk away from the faith. Earlier this year, Pew Research Center published a study reporting that around 4 in 10 Americans have become more spiritual over time, while even fewer have become more religious. Rather than becoming an obstacle to faith, our questions offer an opportunity for illumination of the truth. Thomas Merton once wrote, “Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more.”
Do you have questions of faith? Is the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist a question for you? In 2019, Pew Research reported that just one-third of U.S. adults agree that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus. In a more recent study (2023), the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) reported that almost two-thirds of U.S. Catholics believe in the Real Presence. Because Catholics constitute the largest single Christian denomination in the U.S., that’s a lot of people! Our Catholic schools are faring a little better. Based on NCEA’s 2022-2023 religious assessment national aggregates, 95% of the adults in Catholic education either agree or strongly agree with the statement: I believe Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of students either agree or strongly agree with the statement: I believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It appears the next generation is slipping.
I began to reflect on what mattered in life,
where lasting happiness can be found,
and the pursuit of ultimate truth.
The story of the Road to Emmaus picks up with the disciples encountering Jesus on the way out, but they don’t recognize him right away. With dusk approaching, the disciples invited Jesus to join them where they were staying. Then something happened. When Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to the disciples, “their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:30-31). Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”
It’s interesting to note that the Eucharist pre-dates the canon of Scripture by 350 years. The earliest reference to the Real Presence is found in Paul’s writing when he recounts Jesus’ words at the Last Supper: “This is my body” and “This cup is a new covenant in my blood” (1 Corinthians 11:23-29). Paul and the early Christians understood these words literally—that the bread and wine truly become Christ’s body and blood.
Like too many young adults, I was a religious drifter in my postcollege years. The world can have a way of sucking you in if you let it, and I let it; however, it only left me empty. I began to reflect on what mattered in life, where lasting happiness can be found, and the pursuit of ultimate truth. It’s no surprise that I found myself returning to the Church of my childhood. I remember sitting in the back pew of St. Charles Borromeo Church when there was no one else around. It was dark and quiet. I stared at the beautiful tabernacle and, like the disciples, I felt my heart begin to burn—only in a good way. From then on, when I look at the broken bread, I see my brokenness reflected. I also see my redemption.
I recently had an opportunity to present at an international Catholic school conference in Canberra, Australia. One of my fellow speakers from England offered a compelling testimony to his struggles in faith as a young man, “If this is all there is, then Jesus, it wasn’t worth dying for me.” His story didn’t end there. Like the disciples on their way to Emmaus, he also turned around and headed home. He discovered what Peter knew when Jesus asked, “Do you also want to leave?” Peter answered, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).
The Church describes the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the Christian life,” and the word “eucharist” comes from the Greek word εὐχαριστία, meaning “thanksgiving.” The U.S. Catholic Church is embarking on its first National Eucharistic Congress in 83 years. Pope Francis said, “The National Eucharistic Congress marks a significant moment in the life of the Church in the United States.” Now is the time.
Christ comes to us in the Eucharist, offering himself to us: Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. He nourishes us, offering himself as “our daily bread.” It is easy for us to overlook this extraordinary gift if we confuse substance with essence. Jesus is not merely symbolically present in the Eucharist, but truly and substantially with us. Fr. Gregory Pine, OP, put it this way: “The sacraments are symbols, but not just mere symbols. They are signs which cause what they signify. They effect a change in our lives. Christ is sacramentally and substantially present—bringing us grace and virtue.”
We are small in the face of infinity, and yet God chose to be with us and one of us. The Road to Emmaus is the story of us. It demonstrates the journey of faith from belonging to believing and then to becoming. The Eucharist is our calling into becoming. It is a movement from encounter to discipleship and finally mission. Jesus himself is quite clear on what the Eucharist means, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51). We become assimilated into Jesus when we eat his body and drink his blood. When we receive him we are brought into a deep union with him, so that we and Jesus share in his life and the life of God. That is a road worth traveling.
“Do this in memory of me…” (Luke 22:19).
To listen and to understand where your students stand in matters of faith, visit www.ncearise.org
John Galvan is the vice president of assessments and engagement for NCEA. john@ncea.org
