the renewed journey of life and faith

one of my favorite stories of resurrection is “the road to emaus” (luke 24: 13-35). there are wonderful themes of our humanity and faith: christ among us; journey/narrative; table/food sharing– eucharist; conversion; renewal of spirit/heart; NEW journey (see the end of this post for the biblical text)

over the years, i have preached on these and other themes from the emaus story. but it is always fresh and a renewal of spirit every time i read it.

since i only celebrate one mass on sundays these days, i have come to appreciate, in a different way, the powerful words in the eucharistic prayer and the four actions at the last supper: to take, to bless, to break, to share. this is not just about the host that i hold, but it is really about our very lives: we are the body of christ

because of this communion, there are times that i can get choked up a bit when i pray this part of mass.

how is your journey of life and faith right now? how are we blinded to christ walking with us? how are we being invited to renew our spirits?

may the following story help us more clearly see our faith in this time of real suffering and blindness. may the Spirit of God open our eyes and hearts to jesus’ loving presence here and now.

LK 24:13-35

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.