Homily | April 8, 2026 | Where Have You Settled For Less Than God? (Episode 83)

Two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem.

That's what we hear in today's gospel.

And they say, We were hoping.

That's the line.

Not we are hoping.

Not we are still believing.

No, we were hoping.

Past tense.

You see how hope has died?

If we're honest, that's a very real place, something that we've all encountered.

Not atheism, not rebellion, just disappointment.

You believed, you trusted, you thought God was going to act, and it didn't happen the way you expected.

So you don't make a big dramatic break.

You just walk away.

That's Emmaus.

And here's the incredible part.

Jesus doesn't wait for them to come back.

He goes after them.

He meets them on the road.

And at first they don't recognize him.

Which tells us something very important.

Jesus can be present in your life right now, at this very moment, and you still don't see him.

Not because he's absent, but because your expectations are way off.

They were looking for a victorious Messiah.

They got a crucified one.

So they missed him.

Now hold that and go to the first reading.

A crippled man from birth is sitting at the gate every day, same place, same routine.

And when Peter and John walk by, he asks for money.

That's something probably to be expected.

You've probably seen this in different places.

A small improvement, a little help to survive.

And Peter says something powerful.

He says, I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have, I give you.

And then he says, In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk.

Here's the connection.

Both the crippled man and the disciples had settled for less than what God wanted to give.

One expected coins, the others expected a political victory.

Neither expected resurrection power.

And this is where it it all hits, where it all comes together.

Because how often do we do the same?

We come to God asking for small things or just fix a situation.

Just if you can make this a little easier, just help me get to through this.

If you can just make this happen.

And God says, I don't just want to help you cope.

I don't want to just help you get through this.

I want to raise you up.

The man at the gate asked for money.

He got his life back.

The disciples were walking away in disappointment.

They encountered the risen Christ.

And notice how both stories change.

The man doesn't just stand, he leaps up.

He goes into the temple praising God.

That's not survival, that's transformation.

And the Emmaus disciples, well, the moment they recognize Jesus, what do they do?

They get up immediately and they go back.

Seven miles at night.

Why?

Because once you see him, once you have an encounter with him, you can't stay where you were.

That's the pattern of resurrection.

That's what we've been seeing.

Jesus meets you where you are, but he refuses to leave you there.

Here's how it happens in the gospel.

Their eyes are open in the breaking of the bread.

That's not random.

That's the Eucharist.

They walk with him, they listen to him, but then they recognized him where?

At the table, at the altar.

That's all of us.

At every single mass.

You might come distracted, you may come tired, carrying a lot of weight, baggage, but here in the word and in the breaking of the bread, God reveals himself.

So here's the question for today.

Where have you settled?

Where have you said, oh, this is just how it is?

It's not going to get any better.

Where have you lowered your expectations of God?

Where have you quietly walked away without even realizing it?

Because Easter says this: you're asking for coins just to get by, and God is offering you resurrection.

And you're walking away.

Jesus is already walking towards you.

So what do you do?

Same as both readings, you respond, you let him raise you up, you let him open your eyes, and maybe today, very simply, your prayer is this Lord, I was hoping.

Help my hope again.

Because the risen Christ is not waiting at a distance, he's already on the road towards you.

And he gets there beside you, already speaking, already ready to take you by the hand and say, Rise, I call you to more.

I call you to greatness.

And once you do that, you just start to walk differently.

You won't just start walking, you will run, you will leap with a fire in your heart.

Amen.