Pascha III

The Third Sunday of Easter 2020 – Cycle A Acts 2:14:22-33; Psalm 16; Peter I 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35

So, what are you discussing and debating about these days?

Why are you downcast?  What’s going on?

Talk about relevant questions coming to us over the ages through the Gospels!

Like the two disciples, Cleopas and his wife (let’s call her Judith), Jesus wants to engage us in conversation.  And though he already knows the answers to his questions, are we open to Jesus showing us ways to understand what is going on at this time in our lives and how to walk through, walk with, our discouragement and impatience and our sadness and fear?

I hope you see and clearly understand how last week’s Gospel about Thomas and belief, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” is intended for you and me.  We believe in Jesus solely on the words of witnesses.  And this week’s Gospel shows us that it is at the Eucharist where, as for Judith and Cleopas walking home to Emmaus, the risen Christ desires to engage us in conversation.

The Eucharist is where we listen with our hearts to Moses and the prophets, sing the psalms and hear the good news of the Gospel.

The Eucharist is where interpretation happens; the priest opening up avenues of understanding of the sacred passages through the homily as well as Jesus speaking directly to each of us leading our souls like the shepherd he is.

The Eucharist is where we sit at table with Jesus.  Jesus, made present through the gathering of his baptized sisters and brothers and in a unique way through the ministry of the priest who leads the gathering.  Thus the whole Christ, head and body, are made present as the same crucified and risen Saviour engages us in conversation, explanation, interpretation and the sharing of a sacred meal.

The gathered community for Eucharist, like the wounds (remember last week?), is a proof of the presence of Christ.  It is only in the midst of that gathering that we can declare that the Lord has truly been raised!  

That is why of all the Sacraments, the Eucharist is at the heart of our spiritual lives and why so many of us long for the time we can again gather after this period of stay-a- home orders.

But that does not mean Jesus cannot be encountered.  Do not forget that Jesus will always draw near us while we are walking home,  folding the laundry, changing the car oil, preparing a meal, mowing the lawn or shoveling the snow, taking a shower, in our boredom, while reading, gardening, knitting…  And Jesus will ask the same questions: what are you thinking about?  Why are you worried and sad?  What’s going on?

How do we engage Jesus in conversation?  An essential way for Christians has always been through the Sacred Scripture.  And especially now that we cannot gather is an opportune time to discover the presence of Jesus in the scripture, the first part of the Eucharist we call The Liturgy of the Word.

So I strongly encourage all of us to daily, not simply read the Bible as if it were a novel, but listen to Jesus speak to us through those sacred words and then reflect on them.  You may say to me, “But I don’t understand the Bible”.  “I don’t have the background that you do Father”.  Passages don’t make sense and are difficult and at times violent”.   All valid and understandable concerns.  What I am urging is not a Bible Study but a conversation with the living Christ.

So here are some suggestions that you can do as an individual or as a family.  And what a wonderful way for parents to pass on the Christian tradition to their children.

First, do not be afraid of the Bible.  Flip through it and become comfortable with the book.  It is really a library of 72 documents: the writings of the Hebrews with their primordial stories, the prophets, poetry and history, the four Gospels and the early letters of the Christian community by Paul, James, John and Peter.

One way to begin is with the psalms.  These are ancient songs gathered over time that express a variety of human emotions from anger at God to jubilation; from fear to asking for revenge on our enemies; from hope in God and asking for healing; from the praise of creation to humility before God.  We all have experienced these emotions because we are human.  The Psalms are some of the most human of songs.

Slowly pray aloud or silently within you ONE psalm in the morning and another in the evening.  Listen as you pray.  What word, phase or image stands out at you?  Stop and relish it, digest it, take it in, let it burn in your heart.

Isn’t it interesting that we use verbs and images of eating when speaking about the Word of God?  As we

eat the Body and drink the Blood of Christ, we also eat the Word so that like the Body and Blood  the Word becomes one with us.

Stop.  Relish the Word.

What is God saying to you?Pause in silence.  Respond in your heart as if in conversation.  Talk with Jesus in ordinary language as you would any friend.  If you are in a family setting, share with others what God is saying to you and listen to what God is saying to other family members.

This pattern is the same for any passage of scripture.  Slowly read. Pause at times.  Listen with your heart.  Stop at whatever stands out for you.  Relish.  Digest.  Respond in your own words.  Enter silence.

Consider reading through one of the Gospels.  The point being not to get through the entire Gospel like finishing a race but to enter into conversation with Jesus.

I have never been impressed by a person who tells me they have read the whole Bible from cover to cover.  What’s the point?  It’s like saying I’ve read every book in the library.  Did you learn anything?  Do you retain any of it?   Each document of the Bible is like a letter from God.  You take time to read and reread a letter from someone who loves you and cares about you.  Do the same with the Bible.

Consider the gentle stories of Ruth or Tobit.  If you want strong women figures read Esther or Judith.  Into love poetry?  Read the Song of Songs.  You are the bride and God the groom seeking you out.  Are you a common sense person?  Read Proverbs, Sirach or Wisdom.  With your children read Genesis and all those wonderful primordial stories: Creation, Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel and Abraham and Sarah.

Another source of scripture is the appointed daily readings.  Go to the link on our website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Click on it and you will find a calendar on the right side, click on the date and you will find the readings appointed for each day.

Whenever we pray with scripture we are inherently, like Cleopas and his wife, Judith, inviting Jesus to stay with us.  I assure you he will always accept the invitation.  And sometime soon we will all sit at the double table of Word and Sacrament and again eat and drink the Lord’s Supper and recognize Jesus in gathering, shared word, bread and wine and make the proclamation: “The Lord has truly been raised!”

Happy Feast of the Resurrection!