Acts of the Apostles. 8

April 6, 2008

3^rd Sunday of Easter

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

Dear Friends in Christ,

The presence of the Risen Lord appears to the disciples at different times after His resurrection from the dead. One of the most evocative of these is His encounter with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. In this scene, St. Luke presents to us all the elements where we encounter the Risen Lord, namely in the Eucharist and the Holy Mass. It is in the Liturgy of the Church – in the breaking open of the word and of the bread that we come to recognize the Risen Lord.

Yet, the non-recognition of the Risen Jesus is one of the consistent and curious aspects of the post-resurrection accounts in our Gospel proclamations. Whether its Mary Magdalene, Peter, or the two disciples, the Risen Jesus is not recognized as such, at least initially. It is only by being called by name, by prayerful reflection on the scriptures, and above all, the self-offering in the sacrificial meal as real food that he is recognized. St. Luke points that out to us today in his “Road to Emmaus” story.

All the parts of the mass are present here: the greeting, call to repentance, liturgy of the word, and the “breaking of the bread.” It is here that we meet God, and God meets us. We should likewise see ourselves as servants of the sacred liturgy, so that the encounter with grace can take place.

The recognition of the Lord happens, but only with our preparation. One of the first jobs I ever had was picking radishes and onions on a truck farm. And one of the important lessons in life I learned was the time and effort needed for preparation. One of the more demanding jobs we had was weeding. It was a prescription for sore backs and quite tiresome, but if we didn’t weed the rows of onions, they wouldn’t grow. Weeding row after row, while not being able to see (nor smell) the small growing onions, took a certain amount of faith.

The Eucharist or liturgy involves preparation as well; if we don’t create the conditions for our faith to grow, we wont be able to recognize Jesus. It’s a process then, but a process that involves our intentional preparation to meet the Lord and receive the gift of faith.

Like the disciples leaving Jerusalem, when we encounter the Lord, we cant afford to dwell on the past that is marked by a lack of faith. We must be willing to put away all bad ideas and misconceptions regarding Jesus and embrace the truth of who He really is in the “breaking of the bread.”

-Rev. Todd Molinari

http://www.stjosephchurch.com/pastor.html