“Stay with us, for night comes quickly.” (Luke 24:29)
When Cleophas and his friend, commonly referred to as the Disciples of Emmaus, were returning home disappointed because the one that they had believed in was crucified, buried, some women said that he rose from the dead, but some other disciples went and they did not see him. They had hoped he was the one who will edeem Israel, but… They met Jesus on the way and they did not recognize him.
They felt their hearts filled with ardent desire when he was explaining the Scriptures and yet they did not recognize him and now the darkness of the night was coming quickly.
“Stay with us…” they invited the yet-unrecognized Jesus. And Jesus entered their home and sat at table with them. He took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece… and then their eyes were opened and recognized him… but now he vanished out of their sight.
Isn’t this also our story? Many a time we think that Jesus is a disappointment because he is not the one we expect him to be. Very often we expect him to be our problem-solver, our healer, our lucky charm, our every need, but not our personal Saviour. And whenever Jesus does not appear as we want him to be, he is a disappointment. He disappoints us or rather we disappoint ourselves.
And notwithstanding our disappointment, very often we will ask him: “Stay with us for the darkness of night is coming quickly.” Stay with us Lord, because we do not know where to put our foot for the next step. We’re surrounded by the darkness of disillusion, of sin, of our egoism and we do not know where to go or to whom.
And Jesus will smile at us and he will tell us they same words he told to the two disciples: “How dull you are, how slow of understanding… (Luke 24:25) did I not give you all that you need? Did I not give you myself in the Eucharist… the breaking of the bread?” And he is right… (as usual, after all).
When we celebrate the Eucharist we listen to the Scripture, we listen to it being explained to us, we break the bread together and this bread has already been changed in the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and then our eyes should be opened… only if we act on what we hear in the Scriptures and let ourselves be transformed into what we receive when we receive the Eucharist.
Is this happening in our lives? And if not why?
Let me ask you one more question which might help you to answer these other two. Are you becoming a eucharist? Let me put it in other words. First of all the word Eucharist comes from the Greek εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), meaning “thanksgiving”. With this in mind, let me ask you again: Is your life being transformed into a life of thanksgiving to God for what he did, for what he is doing and for what he still has to do for you and through you? Once you start thanking God, you will start realizing that he is not a disappointment and never will be and that with him and without him your life will not be the same.
Realizing this you will start giving him his rightful place in life: the centre of your life and everything turns around him… and your egoism will slowly fade away because you are not anymore the centre of your life. And believe me, with Jesus as the centre of your life, life will start having a new and exciting dimension. Don’t you want to give Jesus a try?
When Cleophas and his friend, commonly referred to as the Disciples of Emmaus, were returning home disappointed because the one that they had believed in was crucified, buried, some women said that he rose from the dead, but some other disciples went and they did not see him. They had hoped he was the one who will edeem Israel, but… They met Jesus on the way and they did not recognize him.
They felt their hearts filled with ardent desire when he was explaining the Scriptures and yet they did not recognize him and now the darkness of the night was coming quickly.
“Stay with us…” they invited the yet-unrecognized Jesus. And Jesus entered their home and sat at table with them. He took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece… and then their eyes were opened and recognized him… but now he vanished out of their sight.
Isn’t this also our story? Many a time we think that Jesus is a disappointment because he is not the one we expect him to be. Very often we expect him to be our problem-solver, our healer, our lucky charm, our every need, but not our personal Saviour. And whenever Jesus does not appear as we want him to be, he is a disappointment. He disappoints us or rather we disappoint ourselves.
And notwithstanding our disappointment, very often we will ask him: “Stay with us for the darkness of night is coming quickly.” Stay with us Lord, because we do not know where to put our foot for the next step. We’re surrounded by the darkness of disillusion, of sin, of our egoism and we do not know where to go or to whom.
And Jesus will smile at us and he will tell us they same words he told to the two disciples: “How dull you are, how slow of understanding… (Luke 24:25) did I not give you all that you need? Did I not give you myself in the Eucharist… the breaking of the bread?” And he is right… (as usual, after all).
When we celebrate the Eucharist we listen to the Scripture, we listen to it being explained to us, we break the bread together and this bread has already been changed in the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and then our eyes should be opened… only if we act on what we hear in the Scriptures and let ourselves be transformed into what we receive when we receive the Eucharist.
Is this happening in our lives? And if not why?
Let me ask you one more question which might help you to answer these other two. Are you becoming a eucharist? Let me put it in other words. First of all the word Eucharist comes from the Greek εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), meaning “thanksgiving”. With this in mind, let me ask you again: Is your life being transformed into a life of thanksgiving to God for what he did, for what he is doing and for what he still has to do for you and through you? Once you start thanking God, you will start realizing that he is not a disappointment and never will be and that with him and without him your life will not be the same.
Realizing this you will start giving him his rightful place in life: the centre of your life and everything turns around him… and your egoism will slowly fade away because you are not anymore the centre of your life. And believe me, with Jesus as the centre of your life, life will start having a new and exciting dimension. Don’t you want to give Jesus a try?
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