Second Sunday after Easter, April 26 ~ “Back to Normal?” These days I often hear the phrase, “I can’t wait until life gets back to normal.” Likewise, in our scripture, Cleopas and his companion travel home to Emmaus to “go back to life as normal.” Along the way, however, they encounter the Risen Christ and they discover that their lives will never be normal again. They go to Emmaus shuffling their feet, but they return to Jerusalem with their heads held high. May we, too, discover the Risen Christ on our road to Emmaus. In the midst of this pandemic, may our eyes be open, may our hearts burns, and may we never “go back to normal” again.