The Gospel describes the two disciples on the road to Emmaus as “looking downcast” — a dangerous way to look. This word elsewhere in the Gospels is used to refer to the gloomy demeanor of the hypocrites (see Mt 6:16).
St. Augustine says that these two were so shattered when they saw Jesus hanging on the cross that they totally forgot about his teaching. Nonetheless, St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that “of all the passions, sadness causes the most injury to the soul.”
It seems inconceivable that the first disciples of Jesus could so quickly lose heart and cave in on themselves. But the Emmaus episode serves as a wake-up call that a similar pessimistic, defeatist attitude can derail even the most committed of believers if we are not attentive.
Watch the video above to see that the secret to overcoming this most dangerous passion is actually … memory.
And today we celebrate...