Emmaus

"That same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. As they talked and discussed [everything that had happened], Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him.  . . .As they approached the village, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, 'Stay with us. .' When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. They asked each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" [Luke 24:13-32].

This is one instance, of many, in which Jesus appears to his disciples and his followers, after His death and Resurrection.

In one such appearance, Jesus comes before Mary Magdalene outside the tomb. [John 20: 10-18]. He says to her, simply, "Mary". She cries out, "Teacher!" Jesus says to her, "Do not hold onto me, for I have not yet returned to the Father."

But we DO want Jesus to remain around us forever. We do NOT want to contemplate Jesus leaving us! These "burning hearts" that the disciples on the road to Emmaus speak of? It is the longing for the Christ.

These disciples say to Jesus, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over."  Have you ever spent some time with a dear friend, and as the day grows dim, you realize that you do not want the visit to end? So you beg your good friend to at least stay for dinner?

This is how Jesus' disciples must have felt. And yet, at first, they did not recognize Him! They had no idea that this was Jesus, whom they longed for so. They were able to see Jesus, to recognize Him, only when Jesus broke bread with them.

It is in the breaking of the bread that the disciples finally really saw Jesus. For us, it takes partaking in the Eucharist for us to recognize Jesus in our own lives. 

The Eucharist helps us to embody Jesus, and to embody the love which He taught us to infuse with our every action.

The Eucharist is the same in every Catholic church the world over. No matter where I go in the world, in a Catholic church, receiving Communion, I am one with Christ, and one with the parishioners, and one with Catholics all over the globe. I felt alone most of my life, but now, I belong to someone: to Jesus, to a Church, to a Being (God) larger and holier than myself.

The Eucharist binds me with my family. As I proceed up to the altar, my son ahead of me and my husband behind me, I am embedded in my own nuclear family. But, I am also a member of the Christian family.

The Eucharist overwhelms me with joy and awe. After my First Communion, my family stopped going to church.  So in my early teens, I was no longer able to receive Communion. If I asked to go to church, I was told, "We already did that."  If you have ever been denied Communion, only to be able to finally receive it again many decades later, you will fully feel the relief, the awe, the gift that it is to receive this Sacrament. Every time that I receive Communion today, I go back to my pew, I bury my head in my hands and, with tears in my eyes, I thank God that I am no longer barred from receiving Jesus -- and God. I can worship freely.

So, no, we do not want Jesus to leave us, ever. And He is here with us, as long as we are able to receive the Eucharist. And in receiving this Eucharist, we are never alone!

Lord, in the Eucharist, may we always recognize You in our hearts! In the Eucharist, may Your presence always be with us. May we never be alone!

(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.