Inspired by the experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, here is the reflection I shared with those who came to pray with us this weekend.
I had an uncle who I have never met. He died in an automobile accident at the age of sixteen. His death left its mark on everyone who knew him, but I don't think anyone was as deeply affected as my grandmother. For a long time afterwards it was as though the wind had been knocked out of her sails. She would stare blankly as if looking at nothing for hours at a time until one day my mother stood in front of her and said: What about us? You have five other children and we need you.
No parent should ever have to face the death of a child. It leaves a scar that will never go away, a hole that can never be filled. Anyone who has experienced such a tragedy will never be the same again, yet it is possible to go on. This is the great hope that we see in the Gospel today.
As the two disciples walked on the road to Emmaus, they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened (Lk 24:14). I can imagine that as they spoke it was as though they were alone on the road. Jesus had been there teacher, their hero, and he had died. What were they going to do now? As they walked along and as they were speaking together a stranger appeared and walked along with them. He seemed to be unaware of the things that had happened (Lk 24:17-19), so they told him their story (Lk 24:19-24). The living proof was right before them and yet they could not see it until he woke them up.
Not all of us have known the tragedy that these disciples did but all of us from time to time become enclosed in our own preoccupations. It is at such times that we need someone to come along and to wake us up. We need someone to explain to us that Jesus suffered and died and rose again. Because of this, there is always hope and when we begin to see the power that hope brings to us - the possibility to believe that even in death there is the possibility of resurrection - our hearts burn within us (Lk 24:32) and we want to share the good news.
Peter and Paul also experienced their hearts burning within them as they told others about Jesus. We hear a part of their story in the other readings we've listen to today (Acts 2:22-28; 1 Peter 1:17-21). Jesus walks with us every day along the journey of life. Are we aware that the stranger in our midst is the one who helps us to understand? Have we ever been so excited about understanding something that it feels as though our hearts are burning within us? Let us pray for this grace this week: that our hearts might burn within us so that we can share the joy of the risen Christ with those we meet.
When hearts burn within us
I had an uncle who I have never met. He died in an automobile accident at the age of sixteen. His death left its mark on everyone who knew him, but I don't think anyone was as deeply affected as my grandmother. For a long time afterwards it was as though the wind had been knocked out of her sails. She would stare blankly as if looking at nothing for hours at a time until one day my mother stood in front of her and said: What about us? You have five other children and we need you.
No parent should ever have to face the death of a child. It leaves a scar that will never go away, a hole that can never be filled. Anyone who has experienced such a tragedy will never be the same again, yet it is possible to go on. This is the great hope that we see in the Gospel today.
As the two disciples walked on the road to Emmaus, they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened (Lk 24:14). I can imagine that as they spoke it was as though they were alone on the road. Jesus had been there teacher, their hero, and he had died. What were they going to do now? As they walked along and as they were speaking together a stranger appeared and walked along with them. He seemed to be unaware of the things that had happened (Lk 24:17-19), so they told him their story (Lk 24:19-24). The living proof was right before them and yet they could not see it until he woke them up.
Not all of us have known the tragedy that these disciples did but all of us from time to time become enclosed in our own preoccupations. It is at such times that we need someone to come along and to wake us up. We need someone to explain to us that Jesus suffered and died and rose again. Because of this, there is always hope and when we begin to see the power that hope brings to us - the possibility to believe that even in death there is the possibility of resurrection - our hearts burn within us (Lk 24:32) and we want to share the good news.
Peter and Paul also experienced their hearts burning within them as they told others about Jesus. We hear a part of their story in the other readings we've listen to today (Acts 2:22-28; 1 Peter 1:17-21). Jesus walks with us every day along the journey of life. Are we aware that the stranger in our midst is the one who helps us to understand? Have we ever been so excited about understanding something that it feels as though our hearts are burning within us? Let us pray for this grace this week: that our hearts might burn within us so that we can share the joy of the risen Christ with those we meet.
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