Being found is Love

In her reflection today on the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, Jeanne Schuler speaks of being found. There are at least two ways in which being found resonates as an experience of being loved. Friar Jude Winkler comments that the assertive proclamation of Peter that Jesus who was the fulfillment of the promise to David that One would not know the corruption of death, even though He had been executed by lawless men, immediately follows the encounter of the Eleven with the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost. The truth of the mission to which Peter and these disciples of Jesus had given their lives is affirmed. They experience the relationship of brothers and sisters who have been affirmed by God in their work. Our Church communities are settings where this same affirmation and love may be experienced today. In a meeting with nearly 7,000 members of the Italian lay movement Catholic Action, Pope Francis spoke of the need for parishes to be open and outgoing. The love which many find in the parish community needs to be shared with those outside. The second love resonance of being found is when we encounter the person who is able to accept our imperfect and often confused self as precious. In the Gospel from Luke, the disciple Cleopas on the road to Emmaus encounters One who finds him in confusion, doubt and despair. Friar Jude explains how the named disciple and his companion, who might be the reader, find the healing of themselves and their personal invitation to know the Love of Jesus in the Word and Sacrament presented by the “intimate stranger”. We can identify with the deep loving experience of being found. Our mission is to present the precious gift of Jesus, as proclaimed today in the First Letter of Peter, to those we encounter who are seeking to be found.