Below you'll find the audio of my homily for this weekend, based on the gospel story of Jesus surprising two of his friends by appearing to them on Easter afternoon, as they're making their way home from Jerusalem back to Emmaus. Below the widget you'll find the text of my homily. (If a widget doesn't appear below, click here!) Finally, following the text of my homily, you'll find a prayer attributed to Saint Patrick which pairs well with today's gospel and which I offered the assembly for reflection after Communion.
Jesus drew near to the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus but their eyes were PREVENTED from recognizing him…
But the scripture
doesn’t tell us exactly what prevented these two disciples from
recognizing the Risen Jesus at their side. Was it something about him?
Or was it something in them?
Certainly their
minds and hearts, their thoughts and emotions, were consumed with all that
happened in the last few days, all that had been reported to them: the arrest
of Jesus by the Roman guards, his appearance before Pontius Pilate, the
governor, the suffering he endured, his death on a Cross and his burial and
then the amazing report from the women who had visited the tomb that morning -
that Jesus had risen from the dead!
And now, the risen
Jesus is walking with these two disciples - but their eyes were prevented from
recognizing him.
Were they so
preoccupied, so overwhelmed by grief and confusion that they didn’t recognize
their old friend?
Did God - of his own
design and purpose - choose to let them walk in the mystery, in the darkness -
just a little longer?
Or was it simply
that they never expected to see Jesus again - even though they’d heard the
report that he had risen?
Here’s a fun fact: you
and I have heard that same report. Haven’t we? The report that Jesus who was
crucified and buried - rose from the dead. We’ve been told exactly what
these two disciples on the road to Emmaus had been told - and yet we, too,
often fail to recognize him even when he’s walking right by our side.
What prevents you
and me from seeing Jesus? What prevents OUR eyes from recognizing him?
Certainly there are
times when my problems and my worries and fears consume so that I might miss
Jesus at my side -even as I pray for him to be there!
Or perhaps it’s anger
or hurt or disappointment that blur my vision or even blind me such that I fail
to recognize Jesus as he draws close to me with peace and healing and hope.
Or it could be that I just don’t pay much attention to the Lord, that I don’t
look for him every day in prayer, that I don’t try to keep my heart - and eyes
and ears open for his presence? open to him walking at my side?
There are so many
things in my life that might prevent my eyes from recognizing Jesus, things like:
• my prejudices -
the ones I don’t admit to others, and especially, the ones I find difficult to
admit to myself;
• or my stubbornness
might prevent me from listening to Jesus: my resistance to looking at
things in a new way; my refusal to change my mind – in spite of what I see, what I hear, in
spite of what’s reported to me by reliable witnesses;
• or my politics
might prevent me from seeing Jesus insofar as that stance trains my vision to
see some things - but not others;
• or perhaps it
might be my unwillingness to even desire to face the reality of Jesus in
my life AND the change of heart it would take for
me to see him in people I don’t like or don’t love; and welcome
him – even at the expense to my own comfort.
• or I might blind
myself to Jesus at my side because to acknowledge his presence,
would require me to
change my thoughts and my ways - so significantly - that others may
think me impractical, foolish or crazy, on account of what I claim to see, to believe and hold as truth.
• To truly recognize
Jesus at my side and choose to walk with him will change and shape my politics and my
preferences, the decisions and choices I make, the stands I take, and whom I recognize
and name as brother, sister, family and neighbor - and how I welcome them into
my life and share with them what I have.
There are so many
things, so many situations, so many reasons that prevent our eyes from
recognizing, from seeing Jesus - right at our side. But the truth is: the Risen
Christ never leaves my side - or yours. There’s not a step we take that the
Lord doesn’t walk that step with us.
There’s not a moment of any day or night when he’s not right beside us - behind us -
and just ahead of us.
But still, we fail
to see him.
The risen Jesus
asked the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “What are you discussing? What’s on your mind? What’s in your heart this morning?”
He asks us the same question. He wants to know our story - and often enough our
story, like that of the two disciples - is a story of faith, disappointment,
confusion and hope.
Jesus wants to be part of our story - on our good days and bad days, through
all our ups and downs, in all our joys and sorrows.
• Is there anything this morning in my story, in your story, that prevents our
eyes from recognizing Jesus - walking by our side?
• How long has it
been since I’ve prayed? since I’ve told the Lord my story - and asked him to be
part of it? How long has it been since I’ve asked the Lord, as did the two disciples
in the story, how long has it been since I’ve asked Jesus, “Please don’t leave - stay with me - and be the Lord of my life!”
It’s only when the
two disciples break bread with Jesus that their eyes are opened and they
recognize Jesus.
Well – guess what! We’re
here this morning to do just that! We are here to share in the breaking of
bread as Jesus told us to do at his last supper on the night before he died.
Being here on the
Lord’s Day is like walking the road to Emmaus. Even if, in the past week, our
eyes have been prevented our hearts have failed to recognize Jesus by our side here
at the Lord’s Table, at the end of one week and the beginning of another, the
Lord draws near and reveals and shares himself with us in the breaking of the
Bread.
Every time we
celebrate the Eucharist we break and share the Bread of Life
and in receiving Communion we’re invited to recognize Jesus who gives himself
to us this morning, as once he did on the Cross, so now in the sacrifice and
sacrament of this altar.
He gives himself to
us in this way – precisely – to open the eyes of our hearts to the wisdom and
challenge of his word, that his truth might change our lives that we might
begin to break ourselves open, like loaves of bread, to welcome and feed our neighbor,
our brothers and sisters in Christ: whomever we might meet and wherever we
might meet them on the road to Emmaus.
While preparing this
homily I thought of a prayer attributed to St. Patrick. It’s sometimes called
the LORICA, which means armor, and more specifically a hard-shelled casing protecting
the chest - in contemporary terms - a kind of spiritual, bullet-proof vest.
I share this prayer hoping
that its wisdom will open our eyes and help us recognize Jesus – walking by our
side…
Prayer after Communion
(from the Lorica of Saint Patrick)
I arise today,
through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
from all who shall wish me ill
afar and anear, alone and in a
multitude,
God’s shield to protect me ,
against every cruel merciless power,
that may oppose my body and soul.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left
Christ when I lie
down,
Christ when I sit
down
Christ when I arise,
Christ to shield me,
Christ in the heart
of everyone who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth
of everyone who speaks of me.
Amen.
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