04/20/2026
LOVING THE UNLOVELY
cf. Luke 24:13-35
Father Stephen Hart
What makes for a good companion? I mean any kind of companion. The companionship of marriage or a good friendship, or maybe the kind needed for a good business partner or another volunteer in some social cause.
We have different personalities, tastes, and wants, and for people who are similar to us, the answers might be different.
—A quiet person who hopes to get married might look for someone more outgoing them then, but another quiet person might want someone similar to them.
—Same thing with a friendship; some people look for friends who have similar interests, while others are friends because they round someone out with different interests.
—Same in business partners; some people want a partner who will take care of *this* while the other partner takes care of *that*, but for others, they want someone with the same abilities, like iron sharpening iron.
I guarantee, though, no matter what kind of companion we are looking for, they will all have one thing in common: good qualities, however we’d define that.
Why on earth, then, does Jesus choose such bad companions in today’s Gospel?
Let’s go back and review where we are in St. Luke’s Gospel. It’s Easter Sunday, and the women have seen angels announcing that Jesus is raised. These two disciples, however, instead of waiting to see if it’s true, decide to get out of Dodge; they don’t have the stomach to potentially be disappointed that it might not be true. They are cowards without courage.
But Jesus, who is merciful, chooses them as His companions for the journey. When He asks them what they are discussing, the disciples reveal that they are also without faith or hope. “What sort of things” have been going in Jerusalem in these days, the Lord asks. “The things of Jesus the Nazarene,” they answer, “who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” But Jesus is not a prophet! Or at least, not just a prophet. He is the Son of God, God incarnate! The Lord’s passion and death has laid waste their faith. Same for their hope. “We were hoping He would be the one to redeem Israel”, they moan. But Jesus *has* redeemed Israel! The scandal of Good Friday has taken away their hope. They obviously didn’t remember all the preaching that Jesus did in Galilee and Judea when He said that the Son of Man must be handed over, killed, and on the third day be raised.
These are not good companions, but Jesus chooses them nonetheless. Why? Because God loves taking what is the most broken and backward—the least “lovely”—and using it to manifest his glory and his power. He chooses cowardly ex-disciples who have lost their faith and hope, and He accompanies these unlovely along the way and slowly reveals Himself to them.
Jesus teaches us Christians something very important about accompanying the unlovely: those who annoy us and bother us, those who have hurt us, those who do not seem “worth our time”. Yet they are loved but the Lord just as much as we are! Is Jesus not willing to accompany them, too, in their journey of life? And if so, doesn’t that mean we should, as well? After all, we can sometimes be unlovely ourselves, and yet Jesus still chooses us and accompanies us in life’s journey. J
Jesus shows us the value in accompanying the unlovely, in loving what seems unlovable, however we might define. This is especially true in our divided society today. I’m deeply grieved by the way that our consumption of 24 hour cable news and social media is destroying our ability to accompany others who we might consider “unlovely”. I don’t say this against our community specifically, but because it is common now in our culture. It’s so much easier now to write someone off: “I can’t believe you (don’t) believe this” or “support that” or “think that way”. This darkness has dimmed our ability to see the lovable humanity in those we would consider “unlovely”.
But this is not the Christian way. Jesus shows us a different way than what today’s culture would have us do. He chooses the least worthy of his disciples and reveals Himself to them to show the greatness of His mercy. Because He is willing not to abandon them but instead accompany them.
