Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR A THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER - 10.4.05 Acts 2,14.22-33; 1 Pet 1,17-21; Lk 24,13-35 Shattered hopes: theirs & ours Hopes
& aspirations
are basic to our human experience; they are at the opposite end to any
expectations we impose on others . In its ‘Thought of the week’ 2 weeks ago,
our Church Bulletin had a good insight in this when it said: ‘suspect any zeal
which makes you for one moment comment upon the actions of others’. Our
religious sentiment may at times lift us into ‘Dream-Legend’. It’s natural
& enjoyable to have visions & feelings of being carried away - exalted
& invested... as long as all glory & power be given to God alone, &
we remain what we are: unworthy servants & poor instruments in the carrying of one another's crosses. To make sure we remain grounded, the
Paschal Mystery of Mass confronts us with Christ’s suffering, cross, death,
burial & resurrection - as one single experience: the resurrection never
leaves the cross behind & never invests us with exalted glory & power
for us to lash against less enlightened or less initiated people: the Cross of
Christ is Cross of glory, but still a Cross. And -just like love itself!- it
continues to hurt & weigh heavily, to keep us in conflict, in humility &
service, committed ‘to carry one another's burdens & weep with those who
weep’. This logic drives Luke’s story of the two disciples who met the Risen
Lord on their journey to Emmaus. Indeed, it’s is the reason why Luke wrote his
Gospel. At his time, there were people (we have them today too!), whose
expectations were ill-placed, ill-directed, ill-exalted. They expected to
triumph with a triumphing Jesus, but all they got was the devastation of cross
& death, &... some fancy ‘visions of women’. Sadly, they walked away
from the salvation that Jesus had won, in confusion & disappointment. They
failed to realize that cross, death & resurrection had to be experienced
‘three-in-one’ for Jesus & for us, & for all our life. Discovering
the meaning of ‘cross’.
Today’s story: two disciples journey away from Jerusalem into
‘unknown’ Emmaus. With it, Luke tells us, that we are all represented by the
two disciples: we are all -just as they were- puzzled, sad, confused about the
things (the tragic, unexpected, unjust things!) that happen around us: &
yet, these crosses are for us & our salvation. One thing is for sure: we are
all pilgrims & wayfarers. We experience life, as people travelling through
time, on the move & on the way, as we live day by day. The amazing &
wonderful surprise is that for the two disciples & for us, Jesus is both the
way & the strong companion on our journey. He takes initiative, opens the
Scriptures, stirs ‘burning with love’ & provides nourishment through
grace & at ‘breaking of Bread’. To us today, Luke addresses Jesus’
reproach: O you of little faith! so foolish & slow to believe what the
prophets have foretold in the Scriptures. Yes, like the two disciples, we are
right in believing that Jesus was a great prophet, mighty in word & works,
but like them we fail to see the meaning of the cross in Jesus & us. It’s
part of life, to be turned into positive energy in supporting those who suffer.
Only in this sense the Risen Lord provides a new logic, where suffering, cross,
death & resurrection are dealt with as one experience. No matter how
confused we may feel (just as they were!), the same Lord opens the Scriptures,
which explain why it is necessary to live day by day, accepting suffering &
serving & sacrificing our life, so others may have life to the full. For
this year of the Eucharist, the lesson is: Jesus -at Mass & adoration-, for
real walks with us but we fail to ‘recognize’ him; for real he
opens the Scriptures & stays & breaks bread with us causing
our hearts to burn with love. Then, with grateful heart- we say “yes” to
our cross. ______________________________________ |
