Step 32: The Road to Emmaus, The Appearance to St. Peter & The Upper Room

Assigned Scripture Reading (NIV) & Mystery Points

Scripture Reading: Luke 24:13–49 · John 20:19–23

Luke 24:13–49 (NIV)

¹³Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶but they were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹“What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²²In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” ²⁵He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. ²⁸As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³²They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” ³³They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. ³⁶While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ³⁷They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” ⁴⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate it in their presence. ⁴⁴He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

John 20:19–23 (NIV)

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. ²¹Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²²And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Points of the Mystery from St. Ignatius

Appearance to St. Peter (Exx. 302, Luke 24:34): Before appearing to the ten together, the Risen Lord seeks out Simon Peter privately to forgive and console him (‘The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon’).
The Road to Emmaus (Exx. 303, Luke 24:13–35): Walking alongside two discouraged disciples going to Emmaus, explaining the Scriptures that Christ had to suffer and enter into His glory, staying with them at evening, and revealing Himself in the breaking of the bread.
The Upper Room (Exx. 304, John 20:19–23): Entering while the doors are shut for fear, standing in their midst saying ‘Peace be to you,’ showing His hands and side, and breathing the Holy Spirit upon them.

Step 1 · Entering the Hour (2 Minutes)

Before You Start

Read Luke 24:13–35 and John 20:19–23. Stand a step or two from your place of prayer for an Our Father (Exx. 75), reverence the Risen Lord, and pray the Preparatory Prayer (Exx. 46).

Step 2 · Orienting the Heart & Imagination (5 Minutes)

The Preludes

First Prelude · The Narrative (Exx. 302–304)

Recall how on Easter afternoon Jesus meets Simon Peter alone, walks seven miles with Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus until they recognize Him in the breaking of the bread, and then stands that evening in the locked Upper Room saying, “Peace be to you.”

Second Prelude · Composition of Place

See the dusty afternoon country road winding from Jerusalem toward the village of Emmaus, the small inn table with a loaf of bread at dusk, and the locked Upper Room in Jerusalem.

Third Prelude · Asking for What I Desire (Exx. 221)

Ask for grace to be glad and rejoice intensely at the great glory and joy of Christ our Lord.

Step 3 · The Body of the Exercise (30–40 Minutes)

How to Pray Emmaus & The Upper Room (Five Points)

Walk through the Five Points of the Fourth Week across these three Easter afternoon/evening encounters:

1. The Private Appearance to Simon Peter (Luke 24:34, Exx. 302)

Pause first over a quiet marvel: why did Jesus appear to Peter alone before appearing to the whole group? Think of how ashamed Peter felt after his triple denial in Caiaphas’s courtyard (Step 26). Like a true Friend and Consoler (Point 5), Jesus spared Peter the embarrassment of facing Him first in front of the other ten—seeking him out one-on-one to heal his broken heart.

2. The Road to Emmaus · Hearts Burning & The Breaking of Bread (Luke 24:13–35, Exx. 303)

SEE, HEAR & WATCH (Points 1–3): Walk along the Emmaus road beside Cleopas and his friend. See their downcast faces as they walk away from Jerusalem, saying the sad words of every disillusioned believer: “We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel.”
Watch the Stranger fall into step beside them and listen first (“What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?”).
Hear Him open Moses and all the Prophets, showing that the Cross was not a tragic accident, but the very heart of God’s plan: “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?”
Hear their urgent invitation at sunset—“Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent”—and watch Him sit at table, take the bread, bless it, break it, and hand it to them. Instantly their eyes open! Notice that Emmaus is the pattern of every Spiritual Exercise: we walk with Jesus opening the Scriptures, our hearts burn within us (consolation!), and we know Him at the table.

3. The Locked Upper Room · ‘Peace Be to You’ (John 20:19–23, Exx. 304)

SEE, HEAR & WATCH: See the disciples huddled behind locked doors in Jerusalem. Suddenly Jesus stands right in the middle of the room—no door needed—and speaks His first word to His Church: “Peace be unto you.”
Watch Him hold out His hands and His side! Notice: the Risen Body of Jesus still bears the wounds of the nails and the lance—no longer bleeding in pain, but kept forever as badges of love.
Watch Him breathe on them and say: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”

4. Points 4 & 5 · The Shining Divinity & The Office of Consoler (Exx. 223–224)

Look at how Christ consoles three different kinds of sorrow today: Peter’s shame (with a private embrace), Cleopas’s disappointment (by walking beside him and breaking bread), and the Apostles’ fear (by standing in their locked room and breathing peace). Which of those three consolations is He offering you today?

Step 4 · Friend to Friend & Looking Back (15–20 Minutes)

Colloquy, Post-Prayer Review & Repetitions

1. The Colloquy (5 Minutes)

Speak to the Risen Companion of the Emmaus road: “Stay with me, Lord, for it is toward evening.” Thank Him for the times your heart has burned within you during these Exercises. Close with an Our Father.

2. The Post-Prayer Examen of Prayer (15 Minutes · Exx. 77)

After finishing the Our Father, remain quiet for ten to fifteen minutes (sitting or walking slowly) to examine how your prayer went. Ask: Where did my heart feel warmed, expanded, drawn to trust, or moved to tears (consolation)? Where did I feel dry, distracted, defensive, or negotiating with God (desolation or resistance)? Write down two or three honest sentences in your notebook.

3. Repetitions & Carrying the Mystery Through the Day

Notice how the two Emmaus disciples, though it was already night, immediately got up and walked all seven miles back to Jerusalem to share the joy with their brothers—consolation always overflows into community.

Primary Text · From St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises (Exx. 302–304)

[303] OF THE SIXTH APPARITION (Luke xxiv, 13-35.) First Point. First: He manifests Himself to the Disciples who were going to Emmaus, talking together of Christ. Second Point. Second: Reproving them, He shows by the Scriptures that Christ had to die and rise again: "Ought not Christ to suffer and so enter into His glory?" Third Point. Third: At their prayers He stops there and stays with them until in blessing and giving them the bread He disappeared. And they, returning to Jerusalem, told the Apostles how they had seen Him in the breaking of the bread. [304] OF THE SEVENTH APPARITION (John xx, 19-23.) First Point. First: The Disciples being gathered together, on account of the fear which they had of the Jews, the doors being closed, except St. Thomas, Jesus appears in the midst and says to them: "Peace be to you."

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