Originally Published on April 26, 2009
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.[i]
God has thus brought to fulfillment what he
had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets that his Messiah
would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
wiped away. Acts 3:18-19
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:45-48
Piety
Jesus, help us to see you in everyone we
encounter. Help us to see what scars others bear and give us the ability
to heal their wounds. Open us to the healing that others offer to us. Help
us to forgive those who hurt us. Open us to the free and unlimited love
and forgiveness that you grant to all including us. Amen.
Study
Sharing the moment close to Christ brings
Christ back again. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were talking about
Christ and Christ came to them. They recognized Christ in the breaking of the
bread. When we share Christ with others, he comes back to us again. It
is all too true that the only way to hold unto Christ is to give him away. He
calls us into his life by the love we share with each other. And the
greatest love we have to share is Christ himself. They recognized Christ
in the breaking of the bread. We find Christ when we do things with each
other. Walking with Christ on our journey of life comes to the point where
Christ will go on unless we invite him to break bread with us. It is in
the breaking of bread with each other that we recognize the Christ of the
other’s heart. Sometimes I say it too easily that the Christ of my heart
recognizes the Christ of your heart. We need more than a few moments to
reach the rock bottom of Christ in our lives. He is there without forcing
himself on us. We solidify his presence in the asking each other to stay.
Keeping the commandments is how to stay in
each other’s life with Christ as the ultimate meaning of our love. The
commandments are the ultimate statement of interpersonal relationships. Happiness
is the living of our lives with the good of each other utmost in our minds and
our hearts. Once the two disciples on the road to Emmaus realized they had
been with Christ they returned to Jerusalem to be with the bigger
community. We live the wonder of Christ with us when we are willing to go
out of our way to share Christ with those with whom we have met Christ. It
is in the further sharing of Christ that a deeper encounter with Christ takes
place. Christ is the expiation for our sins and for those of the whole
world. Thus, Christ is perfected in us. We need to experience the efforts
that others put out. Thus, we find Christ in the time and the energy that
others expend for the sharing of Christ. It is a wonderful journey when we
are free to put out for each other. Christ fulfilled his destiny that he
learned about in the writings of Moses and the prophets. We have to be
witnesses of what Christ did in his life by living out in our lives what Christ
would do if he were us. We allow him to live in us by the love we share
with those who need us most. Family, friends and strangers become one in
Christ by charity and love shared. The people of God who are the Church
are also the mystical body of Christ. He gathers with us when we gather in
his name. When two or three gather in his name, he promises us his
companionship. We are called by Christ to be witnesses to his love.
Action
So we pray to the Lord that his face not only
shine on us, but that we may be his face to the world. It is Christ who
brings gladness into our hearts by his countenance shining upon us. Christ
is the gladness of our hearts and brings security into our dwelling places. In
each other we touch and see the goodness of the Lord. Christ rises from the
dead again in the goodness of each of us. Every encounter of our lives
becomes an encounter with Christ in our efforts to bring Christ into each
meeting with another. Our apostolic actions are the richness of our love
shared. With our efforts to do something about the needs of our brothers
and sisters, our love covers a multitude of sinfulness. In the love of
Christ shared by our willingness to bring Christ into anything we do for
another, we become the perfect witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. We
make up for the failures of each other by our love shared. Forgiveness of
sins is preached whither we go when we offer our lives for what is wrong with
our world. Thus we are witnesses of the resurrection of Christ.
[i] This
week, Fr. Joe moved to Manresa, the Jesuit long-term care facility in Pennsylvania
where he is recuperating from a stroke.
You may send him Palanca at: Manresa Hall, 261 Clay Avenue, Merion
Station, PA 19066. Non-family visits are
still not scheduled.
Historically, Manresa is
the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographic center
of Catalonia, Spain. The city
is home to a cave in which St. Ignatius of Loyola is said to have meditated and
prayed.
No comments:
Post a Comment