25-Apr-2017 Dear Friend, All of us have had moments of disappointment, frustration and disillusionment in our lives. These were moments when we felt like giving up and quitting. The disciples on the way to Emmaus were packing up and taking off. Their hopes had been crushed by the death of Jesus. What is our reaction to our disillusionments? I would like to reflect on this theme with you. Wishing you an ‘Emmaus’ weekend! -Fr. Jude. Sun. Ref: 3rd Sunday of Easter “Seeing His hand in all things! Do we recognize Him?” 30-Apr-2017Acts: 2: 14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1: 17-21; Luke 24: 13-35;
In the first reading we hear Peter preaching the first Christian sermon of the five recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Peter’s preaching and witness is a wonderful testimony to the resurrection of the Lord because of the awesome transformation that was wrought in Peter himself. This impulsive, bumbling, vacillating, frightened shaky man chosen to be the leader is completely transformed by the Spirit which now has taken possession of him. Peter is now courageous, fearless, single-minded, loyal and ready to suffer for the Master. What the Lord did for Peter he continues to do for all believers who are transformed and changed in the measure that they let the Lord take over their lives. I never knew what things were like…..An old novel tells the story of a wealthy woman who travelled the world over, visiting museums and art galleries, meeting people and viewing the sights. Soon she became completely bored. Then she met a man who had none of the world’s goods, but a great love of beauty and a sincere appreciation of it. In his company the world looked entirely different to her. At one point she told him, “I never knew what things were like until you taught me how to look at them”. In every love story there comes a point when the lover says that to the beloved. –Peter suggests a different way of looking at Christ to the Israelites confronted with the resurrection.Harold Buetow in ‘God Still Speaks: Listen!’ The Gospel has one of the most beautiful stories of the post resurrection appearances of the disciples on the way to Emmaus. Firstly, the incident described tells us that the disciples were not the leaders but ordinary disciples. Perhaps the point being made is that Jesus can appear to any one whom he chooses to reveal himself to. The fact that Emmaus was not popular also tells us that God can reveal himself to us in the most insignificant of places, our hometown! Thirdly, the fact that Jesus joined them on the road is a forceful reminder that God comes to us often along the least expected paths that we travel along in life. Next, we are reminded that when Jesus joined them along the road they were not aware of who this stranger was though they let him join in the conversation. They shared all their disappointments about Jesus and the coming of the Messiah. What is happening between them and Jesus is a perfect model of prayer, with Jesus’ help they are able to open up their hearts and place all before Jesus. Jesus in turn patiently listens to them and starts explaining what had been written in the scriptures about him. In fact their way of coping with their disappointment was to withdraw from the company of the apostles and run away from Jerusalem. We are often tempted to run away rather than find strength in community. Next, we are told that as they came near to Emmaus Jesus walked ahead as if he was going on but they extended hospitality to Jesus and welcomed him to share their bread and board and their welcoming gesture was richly rewarded. They encountered Jesus. Do we realize that in being hospitable and welcoming to strangers we could be welcoming Christ? Further, the Gospel tells us that the disciples offered bread to Jesus who accepted it blessed it broke it and gave it back to them and it was then that they recognized Jesus. Any meal, every meal can be a sacred moment, when we genuinely share ourselves with others. When we break bread together, God is revealed to us! We are called to be companions along the Way! The last part of the episode tells us that immediately after Jesus disappeared they journeyed back to Jerusalem to share the good news and as they journeyed they recalled their earlier journey with Jesus, which they were now able to see in a different light. Incidentally, this reminds us that the scriptures should go hand in hand with the Eucharist. We understand life and scripture makes sense when we have shared our bread with others and received the bread broken for us. “Go to Mass every Sunday… work in a soup kitchen”Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee said in an interview in the magazine The Critic: “If younger people are having an identity problem as Catholics, I tell them to do two things: Go to Mass every Sunday and work in a soup kitchen. If one does those two things over a period of time, then something will happen to give one a truly Catholic identity. The altar and the marketplace-these two must be related to each other; when they are, one works better, and prays better.”Anon Were not our hearts burning?There is a painting by a Dutch painter, Rembrandt, of Jesus sitting at the table with two of his disciples. Once, a guide was explaining the painting to some visitors to the museum where it was on display. He told them the story behind the picture as we read it in the gospel. In the group was a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Browne, whose only son had been recently killed in a car accident. They were still in a state of shock and had come to the museum that day merely in the hope that it might take their mind off their sorrow for a little while. As the guide started the story the Brownes were only half listening. However he told it in such a way that by the time he had finished they were captivated. Afterwards they approached the guide and complemented him. “We’ve heard that story before, but it never moved us till now. You told it with such feeling and conviction.” “There was a time when I told the story badly,” replied the guide. “What happened to change that?” the Brownes asked. “Three years ago,” the guide began, “my wife got cancer and died a slow agonizing death. I could see absolutely no meaning in her terrible suffering and untimely death. She was a good person. She didn’t deserve all this. I was heartbroken. It was as if the world had come to an end. Nevertheless, I was persuaded to go back to work here at the museum. So once again I found myself telling the story, only more mechanically than before. Then one day something clicked with me, and suddenly, I realized that the story was not just about those two forlorn disciples but about me too. Like the two disciples, I was going down a sad and lonely road. Even though I’m a believer, regrettably, up to this Jesus had been little more than a shadowy figure who lived only in the pages of the Gospels. But now he came alive for me. I felt his presence by my side, the presence of a friend who knew all about human suffering. It was as if at that moment my eyes were opened and I saw things differently. My heart began to burn within me. As I went on telling the story, a healing process was at work inside me. Even though at times I am still fragile, I had begun to hope and live again.” The Brownes were unable to hold back their tears. “Strange, they said, but as you told the story, we too felt our hearts burn within us.” They told him the story of the tragic death of their son. As they parted the Brownes said, “Thank you for what you did for us. You are a true story teller.”Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies’ Finding Our InheritanceThere is a legend along the Rhine that on a dark and cold night a thinly clad, half starved man was toiling along one of its rugged paths. He looked with wistful eyes at the bright light streaming from the windows of the mansion, and listened to the sounds of feasting and strains of music. He had left the home of his youth in early life, and heard nothing from it for many years. He knew not that the magnificent property was his father’s and that he was the heir. Desperate he asked for shelter there. At its gate he found an old servant who discovered who he was. Instantly he was ushered into the gaiety. His robes were changed to those of the heir. He had found his heritage. And so the Christian is often ignorant of all that belongs to him as a son of God.Anthony Castle in ‘More Quotes and Anecdotes’ Old Experience, new meaningMaude and Harry have been happily married for six years. It hasn’t been bliss all the way, but they’ve become the best of friends in their struggle to live a genuine life together with their two children. One evening Harry is having a drink with his old friend, John, who was best man at their wedding. As they exchange notes on married life Harry tells John how he has loved Maude from the first moment he set his eyes on her. John contradicts him. He says, “Harry, old son, you’ve forgotten I introduced you to Maude. Remember? You heard her talking at a party I was giving, and when you heard her rabbiting on, you said that whoever married her would be marrying a mobile Oxford English dictionary!” –Which of them is right? John remembers the event as it was then. But Harry remembers it as something more – an event that led to where he is now. Because Harry is in love now, he takes that love back in time, and invests the past with a new significance. His relationship with Maude now affects the way he remembers their beginnings: he gives their first meeting a new significance it never had at the time because he reads it in the light of his present love. His love actually changes the past. What appears to be a chance encounter becomes the most important meeting of his life. In today’s gospel, the two disciples meet Jesus who makes them see things differently and suddenly they understand it all with eyes of faith. The events remain the same but they have changed and they see the old experience with new meaning.Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Word’ Finding Jesus TodayRegina Riley tells the story of a woman who for years prayed that her two sons would return to the faith. Then one Sunday morning in church she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her two sons came in and sat across the aisle from her. Her joy and gratitude overflowed. Afterwards she asked her sons what prompted their return to the faith. The younger son told the story. One Sunday morning, while vacationing in Colorado, they were driving down a mountain road. It was raining cats and dogs. Suddenly they came upon an old man without an umbrella, who was soaked through and through, who walked with a noticeable limp. Yet he trudged doggedly along the road. The brothers stopped and picked him up. It turned out that the stranger was on his way to Mass at a church three miles down the road. The brothers took him there. Since the rain was coming down so hard, and since there was nothing better to do, they decided to wait for the stranger to take him home after Mass. It wasn’t long before the boys figured that they might as well go inside, rather than wait out in the car. As the two brothers listened to the reading of the scriptures and sat through the breaking of the bread, something moved them deeply. The only way they could explain it was: “You know, Mother, it felt so right. Like getting home after a long, tiring trip.” -The story of the two brothers, and their encounter with a stranger on the Colorado road, bears a striking resemblance to today’s gospel. Like the two brothers, the disciples were on a journey disillusioned by the happenings of the day. Then they met a stranger who opened their eyes, as he listened to them and made them understand the deeper meaning of the events taking place, till they recognized him in the breaking of bread. The stranger spoke to the brothers not by using words but by his heroic example.Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ May we find Jesus is with us as we try to make sense of life’s disappointing moments! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected] PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections.These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
