6th April, 2008 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A
The Gospel this weekend is really wonderful. It has such a richness to it… and many levels of meaning….
The journey of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, is also like a symbol of what happens each time we gather as disciples of Jesus at Eucharist…. when we listen to the word of God in scriptures, and Christ opens our minds to his word. And when Christ breaks the bread for us and becomes present to us, in this special way ….. and we too recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread…….
Another very special thing about this Emmaus journey is the fact that the disciples are talking to a fellow traveler along the road… and show hospitality to this person…. unknown to them this person is Jesus himself….. it is no coincidence that Jesus becomes present to them in the outsider to whom they show hospitality … and with whom they break bread together… then their eyes are opened and they recognize Jesus…… if they had not showed hospitality to this person if they had let him go on… they may never have know who they were walking with… and what he had to offer them….. Jesus told us … what you do to the least of my brothers and sisters… you do it to ME…… love God, love neighbour as you love yourself…… so hospitality, community and service are completely interconnected in Jesus’ kingdom….
This weekend at the different masses, we have our young ones who are about to begin their preparation to receive their Confirmation and first holy communion …..
this Gospel we heard today is very special because it shows us that we are all friends of Jesus…. he walks along with us on our life journey… he is always interested to hear us tell him of our hopes, our fears… our disappointments and our failures… and he is there to reassure us and give us strength and to assure us that if we keep trusting in him, the love of God has the final word in our life…. and it lasts forever…..
whenever we gather at Mass, we come together as disciples and friends of Jesus and we break the bread and drink from the cup….and we believe that this is not just a sign of our connection to Jesus, that God forgives us, renews us and commissions us… we believe that Jesus comes to us in what looks like bread and wine and Jesus comes into our hearts and we become more and more part of Jesus’ life…. and go out into our daily lives to live his commandments to show love and care for each other… this is the special message of the journey to Emmaus…and when we listen to the scriptures, and reflect on the many ways in which Jesus is present and active in our lives, inviting us to listen to him and follow his ways……..we too can say to each other… “did not our hearts burn as Jesus talked to us along the way, and explained the scriptures to us. “
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