Here is the text of the mediation I shared with the gathered community earlier today: encouragement for the hearts of all those who dare to believe that there is reason to hope.
The story of the disciples’ encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, recounted in today’s gospel, reminds us all that those first followers of Jesus were just like us. They wanted to believe, but they needed some help.
Saint Luke doesn’t give us the names of those two disciples, so they could be any of the eleven, and in a sense, they could also be any of us. Like them, we have witnessed the things about Jesus of Nazareth: we have heard his words spoken to us, we have sat with him at table, we have listened countless times to the story of his betrayal, his trial, his suffering and his death. We have also listened many times to the accounts of his Resurrection. Why is it that we find it so easy at times to believe the first parts of this story, and yet we still have difficulty believing that the final part is also true? Answer: because we are human beings, we are just like the disciples of Jesus. We want to believe, but sometimes we need some help.
When we experience trials in life, we can often be like those two disciples. We walk along the road of life, sometimes surrounded by others who have shared our experiences: our joys and our sorrows, our hopes and our dreams, even our moments of deepest doubt. It is good for us to share the significant moments of our lives with others, but unless we also include an element of faith, we will never know the power of hope. Perhaps the most important moment in the story on that road to Emmaus happened when the disciples stood still. At some point, all of us too need to stand still. We need to recognize that there is another person walking the road with us, even if at first we might be surprised to find that he doesn’t seem to understand all that we are going through. When the disciples asked him: Are you the only one … who does not know the things that have taken place … he invited them to share the details with him. Jesus always invites us to share the details of our joy, our grief, our sorrow, even our unbelief with him, and as we do, he helps us to believe that pain and suffering, even death has been overcome: He is Risen!
Like the disciples, we are sometimes slow to believe this truth, but God also gives us the gift of the saints, people who have walked this road before us and who encourage us to believe. Last Sunday, two new Saints were added to the list. In his homily last weekend, Pope Francis spoke of his predecessors as men who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy. In them, he said, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy. Saint Peter reminds us all that hope and joy are given to us too, for we have all been ransomed with the precious blood of Christ.
Fear and doubt have always been part of life, but the newly named saints both show us that if we are open to the workings of the Holy Spirit, there is always room for hope. Because of his openness to the Spirit, Saint John XXIII was able to convoke the Second Vatican Council, one of the defining moments for the Church in the twentieth century. Because of his openness to the Spirit, Saint John Paul II continues to call out to us: Do not be afraid; open wide the doors of your hearts to Christ and trust that he who strengthened the disciples on the road, he who encouraged Saint Peter to speak boldly about the truth he had come to know, will also help us to bear witness to the power of the Resurrection in our lives.
How slow you are to believe
Saint Luke doesn’t give us the names of those two disciples, so they could be any of the eleven, and in a sense, they could also be any of us. Like them, we have witnessed the things about Jesus of Nazareth: we have heard his words spoken to us, we have sat with him at table, we have listened countless times to the story of his betrayal, his trial, his suffering and his death. We have also listened many times to the accounts of his Resurrection. Why is it that we find it so easy at times to believe the first parts of this story, and yet we still have difficulty believing that the final part is also true? Answer: because we are human beings, we are just like the disciples of Jesus. We want to believe, but sometimes we need some help.
When we experience trials in life, we can often be like those two disciples. We walk along the road of life, sometimes surrounded by others who have shared our experiences: our joys and our sorrows, our hopes and our dreams, even our moments of deepest doubt. It is good for us to share the significant moments of our lives with others, but unless we also include an element of faith, we will never know the power of hope. Perhaps the most important moment in the story on that road to Emmaus happened when the disciples stood still. At some point, all of us too need to stand still. We need to recognize that there is another person walking the road with us, even if at first we might be surprised to find that he doesn’t seem to understand all that we are going through. When the disciples asked him: Are you the only one … who does not know the things that have taken place … he invited them to share the details with him. Jesus always invites us to share the details of our joy, our grief, our sorrow, even our unbelief with him, and as we do, he helps us to believe that pain and suffering, even death has been overcome: He is Risen!
Like the disciples, we are sometimes slow to believe this truth, but God also gives us the gift of the saints, people who have walked this road before us and who encourage us to believe. Last Sunday, two new Saints were added to the list. In his homily last weekend, Pope Francis spoke of his predecessors as men who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy. In them, he said, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy. Saint Peter reminds us all that hope and joy are given to us too, for we have all been ransomed with the precious blood of Christ.
Fear and doubt have always been part of life, but the newly named saints both show us that if we are open to the workings of the Holy Spirit, there is always room for hope. Because of his openness to the Spirit, Saint John XXIII was able to convoke the Second Vatican Council, one of the defining moments for the Church in the twentieth century. Because of his openness to the Spirit, Saint John Paul II continues to call out to us: Do not be afraid; open wide the doors of your hearts to Christ and trust that he who strengthened the disciples on the road, he who encouraged Saint Peter to speak boldly about the truth he had come to know, will also help us to bear witness to the power of the Resurrection in our lives.
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