In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Immaculate Mother St. Joseph, my Father, and Lord, my guardian angel, and deceit for me.

That very day, two of them were going to a village named Amaius, about seven miles from Jerusalem,

and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

What happened?

As we contemplated in the first meditation of this retreat,

Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.

On a human level level if his success or lack thereof would be evaluated by an outside consultant.

They would say the Lord's efforts were the colossal failure and tragedy of the millennium.

And so they're returning home to their home village of Amas dejected.

And so at least Amas in this case is the locus and symbol of despair. Later on it will be

the symbol of conversion and transformation. But now it's a symbol of despair. They're leaving Jerusalem behind.

They're cutting their losses and they're returning home, feeling deceived and failures, totally disillusioned and scarred for life.

While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

Very simple statement of fact that covers layers and layers of profound meaning.

Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

They didn't notice his presence.

In fact, he would be the very last person they would imagine being with them.

...