Years ago an older priest friend of mine taught me an important lesson about reading. Father Austin Garvey, for many years the pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, Soho Square, London, was a constant, avid reader, who devoured books. However, they were frequently the same books. At first, I thought this rather odd, but upon rereading favorites, I have become a firm believer in the practice. Every year Father Garvey reread most of Dickens and P.G. Wodehouse; every year he reread all of Raymond Chandler. He also read new books, but more often went back to what he knew and what he loved, having an encyclopedic knowledge of his favorites.
Maybe you do more rereading than new reading, returning to favorite stories you are drawn to again and again. Perhaps you tell favorite anecdotes again and again. Maybe you watch favorite movies over and over.
Our Church has a number of wonderful stories preserved in the Sacred Scriptures that we also return to again and again: the infancy narratives of Christ’s birth, the parables of the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep, the post-Resurrection appearance on the Road to Emmaus.
The story of the Road to Emmaus is, perhaps, the best loved Resurrection appearance. It’s a good story: engaging, well structured, clearly thematic, inspiring. Because of its narrative perfection, some scholars have called it the “greatest short story ever told.” We can relate to it. We become part of it because we, like those two disciples, are frequently blind to God in our world, concerned mainly with our own worries.
At every Mass we can enter that story in a special way. What happened to those two disciples, happens to us:
- We hear the Scriptures, which are usually explained in the homily.
[Of course, during some sermons our hearts do not burn within us!]
- We break the bread. We celebrate the Eucharist.
- We realize the presence of the Lord.
The Road to Emmaus is the road to “meeting Christ at Mass,” and like the disciples, recognizing Him in the Breaking of Bread. So, whatever the name of the road in front of our parish church, the street is meant to be our Road to Emmaus that has brought us to meet Jesus Christ. That street can also become our address: we live on the Road to Emmaus if we hear the Scriptures, take them to heart, and receive the Most Holy Sacrament, in which Our Lord is truly present. Perhaps even our hearts will then burn within us as we realize His presence.
Many of us may have favorite stories we enjoy returning to again and again.
But may we not simply reread that last chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Rather, may pray for the grace to live the best story of all: frequently meeting Christ at Mass; frequently recognizing Him on our Road to Emmaus.
Fr. Don Saunders, SJ
No comments:
Post a Comment