In our gospel today, we hear of two of Jesus’ disciples journeying to a small town called Emmaus. Every time I hear this story, I feel like the message is being aimed directly at me. I can relate to busily trudging along and trying to make my way toward some destination, and in the process being oblivious to much of what I encounter on the way. I don’t see the signs, I don’t pay enough attention to what is plainly before me, and I often fail to recognize the good things God has placed around me. I’m busy, too busy, or perhaps simply so focused on my temporal goals that the rest doesn’t get through. That’s not a good way to try to make our way through this life. As I have said before, the purpose of this life is to prepare us for the next. The life that is eternal and that has far greater significance to each of us.
When Jesus calls the two disciples out and tells them how foolish they are, and how slow of heart to believe, that rebuke resonates about my own obstinacy and unwillingness to recognize the things He is trying to get across to me. It highlights how many signs I have been given over the years, and graces, and prayers answered, and I still don’t get it sometimes. How many times was he right next to me, and I didn’t recognize Him? I’ve spent time studying the bible, I’ve tried to immerse myself in my prayer life, and even gone on retreats sometimes to try to gain perspective, only to slip back into old bad habits. Why? It’s called the human condition, and it’s something we all need to actively guard against. That same condition is the one created by the fall, and we still feel its ramifications today.
So how do we guard against this condition that came from the earliest humanity? First of all, we have an advocate in Jesus Christ. He is our mediator to the Father, our advocate who shared our human nature and knows full well the challenges we face. He is our healer, and that healing comes from both His words and from His body and blood that we receive in the Eucharist. It is impossible to overstate how much we need His influence and graces if we are to have a chance at eternal life. We need to cultivate our relationship with Him and attune ourselves far more than we often do, to His will and guidance. We can’t afford to walk through life blindly because we’re too focused on getting where we think we want to go; instead, we need to keep the real goal in mind. Nothing in this life matters if we do not have the hope of living in eternal life with our Lord. We think we know what is important to us, but our viewpoint is hopelessly out of reference with the eternal, because of how limited our capacity is to understand such things. This is where digesting Jesus’ words on a daily basis comes in. He gives us perspective, He gives us the intellectual and spiritual food that we need to accomplish this. We need His word, just as we need His body and blood as our spiritual sustenance; both sustain us.
When we make our way through our week, it is incredibly easy to get into the mode where we get immediately swallowed up by our routines for work, school, hobbies, whatever. If we think that we’ll just make an effort to be more aware of what God is trying to tell us, without taking some concrete steps to facilitate this, I think we are kidding ourselves. The first day of the week is Sunday, the Lord’s day, for a reason. It is our starting point, and if we observe the Lord’s day properly, as the Sabbath that it is, we should be starting out with our focus where it ought to be and do some planning for the rest of our week. Solid planning, just like all the stuff we put in our organizers, or the post-it notes we leave ourselves for everything else we do – we have set times to STOP, spend time with our Lord in prayer and meditation, and as part of that receive the reminder we need to pay attention to His actions in our life, to look back and really be aware of what He has been doing, and whether we even acknowledged it. This takes time and a bit of discipline, but it’s the commitment that should frankly supersede all our other seemingly important commitments. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. All our illusions of control and planning are frankly just that: illusions. We can try to do the best we can, but in the end, there is only the one constant we can count on to safeguard us and get us to the gift of each new day, and that is Jesus Christ. I think it might be worth our giving Him some time in our schedule, to draw closer to Him, and to listen to what He is trying to tell us. Let’s not miss all the signs and the guidance He is trying to give us as we make our way along the road.
I know that I mentioned earlier in the homily the necessity of receiving the Sacraments, and with or current situation, that might seem like an insensitive statement at the moment. However, I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone, that despite the limitations we currently have due to social distancing, you can still receive Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Reconciliation spiritually, please see the video link below from Father Chris Alar.
Father Chris Alar video – spiritually receiving the Sacraments
God Bless Everyone – and please stay safe this week!
The Deacons Bench 