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Often we do not readily recognize Jesus in our daily walk in life and the human
condition. We are like the two disciples Emmaus in the Gospel
reading that did
not recognize Jesus until after they heard him explain the
scriptures and then broke bread with him. The disciples were
preoccupied with thoughts of personal needs and wants along with
gloom and doom. Because of their disposition and anxiety they
were unable to connect with who and what was happening in their
presence in the here and now.
They didn’t know
how to open their eyes and ears or their hearts and minds to the
possibility of the Lord’s promise and presence. They failed to
accept that the kind of awareness to which Jesus called them
involves a two part process. It is important that we learn from
observing what happened to the disciples. It is the same
process that brings us into communion with God.
When the
disciples listened with opened ears to Jesus, the Word of God,
teach the sacred scriptures, it was in their hearts that they
came to recognize him. We see that their eyes and their minds
opened to his true identity when Jesus took the bread of a
shared meal, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them to eat.
This two part process is the same for each of us.
When we
celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are on a similar
journey with Jesus. First, we have the Liturgy of the Word,
during which we hear the scriptures and a homily that explains
them. This is a time for us to open our ears and listen to
Jesus to recognize and receive him in our hearts.
While it takes a
well-trained reader and homilist of sacred scripture to bring
forth the meaning and emphasis for us, it takes a well-trained
ear for us to receive the sacred message so that our hearts can
be set on fire and be made ready to recognize Jesus as if he
himself were teaching us.
The source and
summit of the two part process is the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
When the priest consecrates the bread and wine, it is Jesus
himself who actually makes this possible, using the priest's
hands and voice, to give us his body and blood, soul and
divinity. Here, Jesus does for us what he did for those two
disciples at Emmaus.
If we open our
hearts and minds to Jesus during the Holy Mass, in the Liturgy
of the Word and in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, from the
beginning to the very end, when we open our minds to the
possibility of his promise, we see much more than a wafer of
bread and a chalice of wine. We see the real presence of Jesus
himself and we can fully experience him with our hearts and our
minds.
With our eyes
and ears opened and focused and our hearts and minds integrated
to recognizing and receiving Jesus, we can know beyond all doubt
that the resurrected Jesus is truly present in the Holy
Eucharist. Let us rejoice and be glad.
With faith, hope and love,
Father Steven C. Rogers
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