On the Road by Scott Hahn

If you know me at all, you know that I draw deep inspiration from the last chapter of Saint Luke’s Gospel. I love the story of the disciples’ walk with Jesus on the road to Emmaus. I imagine those disciples to be you and me. As we walk the road with him, he opens up the Scripture to us — and then he makes himself known to us in the breaking of the bread.

I know no better image for the mission of the St. Paul Center: reading Scripture from the heart of the Church.

Even before the founding of the St. Paul Center — nearly 20 years ago — I helped found a publishing company along with my friend and colleague Curtis Martin (who is now president of FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students). When we were choosing a name for our imprint, the natural choice (and the supernatural choice) was Emmaus Road.

The first title published by Emmaus Road Publishing was Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God, which I co-edited with Leon Suprenant. Over the years Emmaus Road has published many great books by people associated with the St. Paul Center. My name is on the cover of seventeen titles in the Emmaus catalog!

After so many years of close collaboration, we’ve decided to draw even closer. I’m pleased to announce that Emmaus Road Publishing has joined the St. Paul Center and become our publishing arm. We now share common office space, staff, and mission. This will make both operations more effective and more efficient in service to the Gospel and to your personal apostolate.

We have set ambitious goals for the near future — to bring you books you need from authors whose words you trust. We’re having a sale to celebrate.  And, in the spirit of celebration, I’d like to give you a gift.

Go to the website EmmausRoad.org today, and you can sign up for a free digital copy of my book Understanding Our Father: Biblical Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer.  You’ll also find great discounts on many other Emmaus Road titles. As I said, this is a big moment in our history. We’re celebrating with a big sale.

So please join the celebration! I thank you for your companionship so far as we walk together on the road to Emmaus. You make our work possible. I am constantly aware of that fact, and so are my colleagues at the Center — and now at Emmaus Road Publishing, too! We give thanks for you daily. We intercede for you and your loved ones.

And still I have the audacity to ask you for more! Please pray for our work. Please continue to contribute generously. There’s much we need to do — and, like those long-ago disciples, I feel the urgency of the need in our world. They implored Jesus, “constrained him,” saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent” (Luke 24:29).

And you know what? That’s a strategy that works! “So he went in to stay with them.” Let’s you and I constrain our Lord with our love, our prayer, and our pious works. Then watch what happens as he makes himself known to us.