Happy Monday! I am usually such a slug on Monday mornings, but I have implemented a new "time map" and I have already finished with my morning routine, including the dreaded exercise, so off to write.
"Slow of Heart" is a term our pastor used this weekend in his homily and I have been thinking about it since yesterday. It means "slow to believe". The readings this Sunday were so powerful. The Road to Emmaus....it's the journey we are all on at one time or another. Walking away from Jerusalem and God toward something else. Sometimes we don't even know we are on it.
I was reading an article this morning in "The Word Among Us", a fabulous resource for daily meditations that I highly recommend. It is called "A Journey Towards Hope" The author, who was not identified, wrote this:
"How Does the Future Look? This beautiful story shows us just how powerful hope can be. Before they recognized Jesus, these two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem. They separated themselves from the small faith community that had formed around Jesus and his message. They left the people who had prayed with them; the people who had experienced God’s love and mercy with them; the people with whom they had seen so many miracles and healings. It is as if, by leaving this little band of believers, they were walking away from Jesus himself and everything he had taught them.
But Jesus didn’t let them go so easily. He sought them out. Like the good shepherd in the parable, he didn’t just abandon them and hope for the best; he went after them and tried to bring them home. And how did he do it? Not by overwhelming them with more miraculous acts of power. Not by begging and pleading with them to come back. And not by trying to convince them that they were making a terrible mistake. Rather, he did it simply by rekindling their hope. By telling them about God’s plan of salvation, he showed them that his death was not an accident. God hadn’t abandoned him to fate—and Jesus would not abandon them, either.
As Jesus spoke, the promises of God began to set their hearts on fire. The future looked brighter because the promises of the past were coming true before their eyes. This is where the stories at the start of our article differ. The first two tell about people who see the future in a good light, and the last three tell about people who can see no hope for their time ahead. Like these last three, the Emmaus disciples felt that they had no future in Jerusalem. Jesus’ promises—all the good news of his preaching—had been overshadowed by his death. And so, Jesus spent time with them, giving them new eyes to see the road ahead and to help them choose the future that he had mapped out for them.
This is exactly what Jesus wants to do for us whenever we lose our hope. He wants to join us on our journey—even if we are walking “away from Jerusalem”—and convince us that he has a plan for our lives. He wants to help us look at our present situation through the eyes of faith and hope so that we will see that his hand is still upon us and that he can help us. He wants to lift our eyes to heaven and show us that we are part of a much bigger story. And by doing that, he wants to give us a larger, more heavenly perspective on our challenges and trials. He wants to convince us—even against all human logic—that there is always room for hope and that brighter days really do lie ahead for us."
This is so true! As the Divine Mercy taught us last week, "Jesus We Trust in You". We have the privilege as Catholics to have the Eucharist each and every Mass. This is Jesus, Our Lord! Let us open our eyes and see the Glory that is before us! Let us trust that he will walk with us on that road to Emmaus and turn our hearts back toward Him to BELIEVE always that He is God!
Pray believing that He will heal. Pray believing that He will energize and encourage you. Pray for peace of mind and heart. Pray knowing that He will grant that. Pray for your children knowing the He will grant the wisdom and strength for you to face anything He puts before you. Pray that when you really want off that exercise bike and your legs are burning and you just want it all done, that He will give you the strength to finish, helping your take care of your temple of the Holy Spirit! Believe me when I say, He will!!
As Always,
Be Blessed in the Journey,
MaryLabels: My Crazy Life