The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the signs and events of daily life that are parts of the puzzle of fullness in truth, beauty, and goodness.
 |
| Road of encounter |
In the reading from Acts the faith of Peter facilitates the Cure of a Crippled Beggar.
* [3:6–10] The miracle has a dramatic cast; it symbolizes the saving power of Christ and leads the beggar to enter the temple, where he hears Peter’s proclamation of salvation through Jesus.1
In the Gospel from Luke Jesus Appearance on the Road to Emmaus opens the eyes and mind of two discouraged disciples.
* [24:16] A consistent feature of the resurrection stories is that the risen Jesus was different and initially unrecognizable (Lk 24:37; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4).2
Michael Cherney comments that by sharing a common author, the structure of Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles are deeply connected. Between today’s Gospel and passage in Acts we have the disciples receiving a charge, Jesus’ Ascension, and perhaps most significantly the coming of the Holy Spirit.
My sense is after the Emmaus experience the men were more at ease and that they had a better intellectual understanding of the events of the past week. My reflection on today’s passage suggests that in the time between the two readings, the men of the Gospel have undergone a greater transformation. They are no longer what I would call ‘followers”, they are the new charismatic leaders.
My prayer today builds on this thought of personal transformation.
Dear Lord,Open my eyes and my ears that I may be more aware of Your presence.Open my mind and heart that I may be more aware of Your Spirit.Help me to take my faith to the next level.3
Don Schwager’s meditation asks: Why was it difficult for the disciples to recognize the risen Lord? Jesus' death scattered his disciples and shattered their hopes and dreams. They had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. They saw the cross as defeat and could not comprehend the empty tomb until the Lord Jesus appeared to them and gave them understanding. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) reflects on the dimness of their perception.
"They were so disturbed when they saw him hanging on the cross that they forgot his teaching, did not look for his resurrection, and failed to keep his promises in mind" (Sermon 235.1)."Their eyes were obstructed, that they should not recognize him until the breaking of the bread. And thus, in accordance with the state of their minds, which was still ignorant of the truth - that the Christ would die and rise again, their eyes were similarly hindered. It was not that the truth himself was misleading them, but rather that they were themselves unable to perceive the truth." (From The Harmony of the Gospels, 3.25.72)4
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 24:13-35 comments that the mysterious stranger seemed ignorant of the turmoil of the past days, but he could explain the Scriptures like no one they had ever heard before.
In the early Church, the entire Eucharistic celebration was referred to as the breaking of the bread. That’s how important this gesture was. And today, two thousand years later, we still consider the moment when the priest breaks the Host as one of the most solemn parts of the Mass. It’s at that moment that we can recognize Jesus in the Host—the same Jesus who walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.5
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, clarifies that “Resurrection” is another word for change, but particularly positive change—which we tend to see only in the long run. In the short run, change often looks like death. The Preface to the Catholic funeral liturgy says, “Life is not ended, but merely changed.” Science is now giving us helpful language for what religion rightly intuited and imaged with mythological language. Myth does not mean “not true,” which is the common misunderstanding; it actually refers to things that are always and deeply true!
God could not wait for modern science to give history hope. It was enough to believe that Jesus “was raised from the dead,” somehow planting the hope and possibility of resurrection in our deepest unconscious. Jesus’ incarnate life, his passing over into death, and his resurrection into the ongoing Christ life is the archetypal model for the entire pattern of creation. He is the microcosm for the whole cosmos, or the map of the whole journey, in case you need or want one.
Nowadays most folks do not seem to think they need that map, especially when they are young. But the vagaries and disappointments of life’s journey eventually make us long for some overall direction, purpose, or goal beyond getting through another day. All who hold any kind of unexplainable hope believe in resurrection, whether they are formal Christians or not, and even if they don’t believe Jesus was physically raised from the dead. I have met such people from all kinds of backgrounds, religious and nonreligious.6
The nature of the appearances of the risen Jesus offer great food for contemplation of what “resurrection” means in our daily life.
Reflections
1
| |
2
| |
3
|
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved April 24, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
|
4
|
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
|
5
|
(n.d.). Wednesday within the Octave of Easter - Mass Readings and Catholic .... Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/04/24/
|
6
|
(2019, April 24). Raised from the Dead — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://cac.org/raised-from-the-dead-2019-04-24/
|
.
No comments:
Post a Comment