"He was known to them in the breaking of the bread…"

This is the description used by Cleopas and the other disciple after they had encountered the risen Lord Jesus Christ on the way to the village of Emmaus. These two men had heard the report of the women who had gone to the tomb early on the first day of the week, only to find it empty. As they were discussing these things, Jesus joined them on the journey and spoke with them, opening up the Scriptures for them. Their hearts were burning with the desire to know more, but even with all that, still they did not recognize Him. It was only when our Lord blessed and broke bread, just as He had at the Last Supper, that finally "their eyes were opened," and they knew who He was. Here, then, is a great truth: we can hear others speak of the Lord, we can read the Scriptures and have them interpreted according to the mind of the Church — but the living encounter with the Risen Lord takes place within that Gift which He Himself has given us…the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the gift of Himself.

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Breaking News! An Ordinariate for Canada Has Been RequestedEucharistic EvangelismBreaking News of a Wonderful Sort…"Be Not Afraid!" As We Embark on This Historic VentureBishop Moyer's Easter Sermon Fr. Christopher G. Phillips is the pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he has served for the past twenty-seven years. He is the founding pastor of the first Anglican Use parish, erected in 1983 under the terms of the Pastoral Provision. Fr. Phillips was ordained as an Anglican for the Diocese of Bristol, England, in 1975. After serving as Curate for three years at St. Stephen Southmead, he returned to the United States and served in two Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Rhode Island. In 1981 he left the Episcopal Church and moved with his family to Texas, where he was subsequently ordained as a Catholic priest in 1983. Fr. Phillips and his wife, JoAnn, have been married for forty years. They have five children, all grown and married, and two grandchildren.

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