WALK WITH US; STAY WITH US LORD

Beloved Parishioners,

I hope “the termites are still raising the alarm for you!” Here at the presbytery we are still breathing. At the beginning of the week we have just ended, a young man came to the parish with three trays of eggs as a donation for our upkeep. Do not accuse him of attempted murder, he was just giving his offering and made sure we did not gather around him to receive the offering. Thank you very much my dear young man. This is what I always refer to in my weekly messages; namely, that generous spirit which a number of you have exhibited. We shall always be grateful.

Have we entered our fourth week of  STAY AT HOME? I have sort of lost count, but since this is my fourth message then it is the fourth week. Hang on in there, help is on the way. I get encouraged when I see on the News, a number of people who had tested positive being discharged after they have gotten well. I salute the Doctors and all medical personnel who are working tirelessly to make this possible. That we have not yet had a recorded death due to the pandemic, is even more reason for us to thank our ever caring God. Thank you Father.

I have just said, help is on the way; indeed it is. On this Sunday when the Gospel of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is read, we find ourselves on the same road. Like the two disciples, we are also going away from Jerusalem, disappointment written all over many of our faces. A number of us thought that following Jesus Christ our Lord, meant “liberation”: like getting out of poverty, the promise of well paying jobs, being cured of all sorts of ailments, living in harmonious families, raising up obedient children, living among friendly and caring neighbors, enjoying freedom of worship, building up firm Christian Communities and so on and so forth. However, things have turned out differently. Now we find ourselves walking away from Jerusalem to Emmaus for we do not understand what Jerusalem is offering us.

But help is on the way! Jesus joins us as we walk away, and if we let him, he will help us look beyond what blinds us: things like, daily work,  worries, doubts, confusion and fear. Though we may not recognize him at first, he will not be a stranger to us for long. He will soon be to us the true risen Lord among us. It is very important that we let him walk with us and listen to what he has to say (read the word of God meditate upon it and seek its wisdom). This will open our eyes of faith and make us understand the real purpose of his coming on earth and dying on the cross. It will slowly dawn on us that he came that we may have life to the fullest. ____ Something we shall achieve only when all is accomplished in him.

We shall then be able to face the world boldly and like St. Peter, speak to anyone without fear:

‘Brothers, ….God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.’ [Acts 2:32ff]

That Holy Spirit, whom he shares with us, who transformed Peter and his companions from timid followers of  Christ to courageous  men ready to lay down their lives for him, is the same Spirit that transforms us. If we let Christ walk with us, if we listen meditatively to his word, we shall have nothing else to say except “stay with us Lord”. As sure as he is alive, when the Coronavirus pandemic comes to an end and is no more, when we can celebrate Mass together, we shall most surely recognize him at the breaking of the bread.

Let him walk with you to Emmaus.

Sat 25, Apr 2020 21:04 pm