JESUS LISTENS TO US IN OUR ANGUISH AS WE WALK THROUGH LIFE
We adore You, O Christ and we praise You!
Because by the Wood of the Cross
and the Light of the Resurrection,
You have redeemed the world!
"...It happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.... And He said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the scriptures" (Luke 24: 15, 25-27).
The Emmaus road is the story of the Christian life.
These disciples were walking away from Jerusalem
and the apostolic faith community in defeat and dejection.
They had lost hope.
We too, have moments of despair and desolation.
The Risen Lord Jesus accompanies us along the road,
even when we are moving in the wrong direction.
Only the Lord can "break open" the Word
in order to help us understand the stories of our lives,
especially suffering, and read them in harmony with the pattern of the Scriptures. Only the Lord can rekindle our energy and our resolve
to devote ourselves to what is most important in life.
The journey of Emmaus is our journey.
In our journey of life, we experience disappointments,
doubts, times of sadness and disillusionment.
We can experience crises of faith, loss of hope, and temptations to despair.
We all have some negative experiences in our life.
We can become dispirited like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
We need our youthfulness of spirit to be renewed.
The Risen Jesus wants to renew our spirits in this pandemic now,
like He wanted to renew the spirits of the two disciples.
He wants to join us on our journey.
He wants to accompany us.
We can encounter Him in our journey to Emmaus
by listening to His Word through the Sacred Scriptures.
Lord God, as disciples on our pilgrimage,
we implore Jesus Christ: stay with us, Lord.
Open our hearts to true conversion and,
as we have known the Lord in the breaking of the bread,
so make us witnesses of a new humanity,
renewed, reconciled and at peace in Your love.
Send us as heralds of the repentance and forgiveness
You offer to all in the name of Jesus,
who lives and reigns with You, forever and ever. Amen.
We praise you and we bless you,
our risen Lord Jesus, King of glory,
for you are with us,
even when our eyes are closed to your companionship.
Walk this day alongside the disconsolate and the despairing,
open their eyes to your gentle illumination,
and let their hearts burn within them at your invisible presence.
To you, Lord Jesus, walking by our side,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in him shall never die. Alleluia.
