WHO IS THAT HERO?

Jesus, help me spot heroes by the helpful things they do! Amen.

Two disciples were walking along when Jesus appeared and walked with them. They didn't know who He was and talked about what had happened to Jesus. Jesus explained the Bible to them, and they all had dinner together. When Jesus blessed the food, they suddenly recognized Him, and He disappeared. The disciples ran to tell their friends that Jesus was alive!

Movies and cartoons about superheroes usually show you that the hero has another, secret life. Superman is also Clark Kent, who works as a newspaper reporter and is shy; Batman is a rich man who lives in a mansion; Spiderman is Peter Parker, who has a girlfriend and goes to college.

The interesting thing about those other lives is that no one recognizes the hero when he's "out of costume"! Some of the superheroes wear masks when they're fighting crime; even if they don't, they act so different that no one suspects it's the same person.

This week's Gospel (Luke 24:13-35) is about Jesus' "other life." Jesus has been crucified and come back to life, and He bumps into some of his old friends, the disciples. But even though they knew Jesus well, they don't recognize Him!

We know Jesus didn't wear a mask, so He must have been different in other ways that made it hard to realize He was Jesus. The Gospel story gives some clues: Jesus didn't take charge as a leader, just walked with the disciples and talked; and He had dinner with them like an ordinary person.

That's probably not what the disciples would have expected someone to do first, if He just came back to life!

Maybe they didn't recognize Jesus because He didn't act like Spiderman. In fact, He was more like Peter Parker: quietly being a friend, being helpful, until everyone realized He must be Jesus. Then everyone got excited knowing Jesus was alive again, because He was their hero!

(04/03/08)