"And they recognized him in the breaking of the bread."God meets us. He walks along side us every day. In fact, if you look at your life with the eyes of faith, you will not be able to stop seeing him in every person you meet, all day long. However, we are people of little faith. Jesus' reproach to the disciples, "Do you not understand?" applies directly to us. My immediate response to his question really is, "No, please explain."
Jesus rejoices to walk next to us and inspire, ennoble, and correct our faith. He corrects not only faith with a small "f," that is, the very subjective act of believing in him, but he also corrects our Faith with a big "F," that is, what we believe about him. He helps us with both of these at the same time, because they are often intertwined with one another. Our errors of what we believe, or really what we do not believe, are always related to our sin or the obstacles in us that keep us from understanding.
The biggest obstacle I see in modern man is that we do not believe that Jesus loves us, that we are lovable, that we are truly his. We may believe in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the Resurrection, the Hypostatic Union of the two natures united in One Person, but we struggle believing that this divine person loves us. This is what Jesus corrects when we walk along side him.
We find it difficult to see him in our life because we doubt his desire to be in it. Perhaps we have a wrong idea about his power. We might think that he came to make us healthy, wealthy, and wise in the eyes of the world. Nope. Jesus does not preach a health and wealth Gospel, it is not him. He even withholds himself from us many a time as he did from the disciples, in order to bring us freely to an act of faith. What is so novel, so wonderful, is that he walks WITH US. He is with us in our un-wealth, un-health, and even remains to help us with the bad decisions we have made.
He shows himself in our families, in our work, in our school, but in a special way the Lord walks next to us in a profound way in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Here he binds himself to married people in a sacred bond so that there are no longer two but one, and the way you think about, feel toward, and love your spouse is the way you are toward Jesus, who hides himself in your spouse. Here Jesus shows you how to love and be loved, to heal you of your selfishness, make you a person of service, forgiveness, and kindness.
But this is not easy. We don't know how our faith is corrected, how to find Jesus in all, especially in the married vocation. So he gives us the Sacred Eucharist. Here he opens for us the scriptures and opens for us his very Eucharistic Heart in the breaking of the bread. Here he trains our eyesight, corrects our faith, reveals himself in a consistent way, so that in the inconsistencies of life we may find him.
Also Jesus corrects us in the Liturgy from the false idea, the heresy, that he did not found a Church with rituals, sacramental structure, with a hierarchy, and with all the things necessary to preserve the Eucharist Sacrifice in all its splendor and integrity as he walks with man throughout human history. Jesus is not a hippie who does not care about rules and laws. He is God made man and he gives us a new way of living the law and he the very rule of life. He instituted this rituals of the Mass so that the rituals of our life might be sanctified.
If we come to Mass with an open mind and heart, Jesus will definitely help us recognize him better. Mary, our Mother, especially in this Month of May, dedicated to her, helps us see with the eyes of faith in a singularly powerful way. She intercedes for us and "prays faith into us" asking God to open our hearts to his mystery and the mystery of his love.
May the Holy Mother of God help us to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread that our our faith may be corrected, and that we may see Jesus every day and in every occasion.
The strange thing about the road to Emmaus and one that I always struggled with is, why didnt they recognise Him, and it says in the Gospel that "something" prevented their recognition.I have often pondered upon this and what that something was.
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