Let us Pray: O God, your Son makes himself known to all his disciples in the breaking of bread. Open the eyes of our faith, that we may see him in his redeeming work, who lives and reigns with You, and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
I am posting this reflection even though it isn’t in the lectionary for this year on a Sunday because this piece of scripture is one of my favorites. And I am dedicating it to The Reverend Fred Stevenson,
As I look back at the reflection, I have done, twice before, 4 years ago and last year, (with some modifications) we were finally getting out of the pandemic. Today we have survived the isolation and challenges and now as we walk The Road to Emmaus it is continued to be filled with Prayer and Hope. We can walk the road with Jesus these days and know He is watching over us as he did back then. Our eyes may not see Jesus as the disciples did, but our minds hold him close as he holds us in his protective arms. We also must remember the walk on the road started out in disbelief and sadness. It ended in joy, excitement, and love. Today it has ended the same way with joy, excitement, and love for many of us but that road for some is filled with loss and despair, but Jesus was there walking with each and every one of us. We just had to open our eyes to see Him. If we think our world had been rocked and turned upside down think how the disciples felt with the death of Jesus. They were barely able to absorb His death when all of a sudden, they learn He has risen from the dead. The disciples were not ready for his death and definitely were not ready for his resurrection. Their lives were changed forever, they now didn’t have a normal to return to. We have been able to return to some semblance of normal. There were so many similarities in the disciples struggle from Good Friday onward that reflected our situation then. Our first responders reflected the disciples, how they managed every day, how their lives will never return to what it was, before from what they have seen every day. The one constant in their struggles and our struggle is we all can walk with Jesus, walk along the road to Emmaus with Him. As we slowly managed through our isolation there are some still who have not fully recovered. Each of us developed stories and memories, when we got back together, we shared these stories as the disciples shared their stories and experiences as they followed Jesus. Coming back together brought interesting stories, stories how we survived, the coming back together was like a celebration, a resurrection of believers. We shared together as one the light of Scripture and we found a new understanding and new inspirations in the Hope that we can sit down at a table together and break bread. And as we sit together, we will see some of all the things that were right before us, things we somehow lost in our hectic lives. When we struggle with questions of meaning and we just cannot understand what is happening around us, the answer is often right before us. The disciples did see what was right before them, it took time as they sat together to share in the breaking of bread. “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then the disciples’ eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.”
What things in your lives opened your eyes and your heart because someone welcomed you or you opened your own heart, your door, your life and invited them to share with you a blessing in the form of breaking and sharing the bread of Christ?
Let us pray: O God, your Son makes himself known to all His disciples in the breaking of bread. Open the eyes of our faith, that we may see him in his redeeming work, who lives and reigns with You, and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
I am posting this reflection even though it isn’t in the lectionary for this year on a Sunday because this piece of scripture is one of my favorites. And I am dedicating it to The Reverend Fred Stevenson,
As I look back at the reflection, I have done, twice before, last year and 4 years ago, (with some modifications) we were finally getting out of the pandemic. Today we have survived the isolation and challenges and now as we walk The Road to Emmaus it is continued to be filled with Prayer and Hope. We can walk the road with Jesus these days and know He is watching over us as he did back then. Our eyes may not see Jesus as the disciples did, but our minds hold him close as he holds us in his protective arms. We also must remember the walk on the road started out in disbelief and sadness. It ended in joy, excitement, and love. Today it has ended the same way with joy, excitement, and love for many of us but that road for some is filled with loss and despair, but Jesus was there walking with each and every one of us. We just had to open our eyes to see Him.
If we think our world had been rocked and turned upside down think how the disciples felt with the death of Jesus. They were barely able to absorb His death when all of a sudden, they learn He has risen from the dead. The disciples were not ready for his death and definitely were not ready for his resurrection. Their lives were changed forever, they now didn’t have a normal to return to. We have been able to return to some semblance of normal. There were so many similarities in the disciples struggle from Good Friday onward that reflected our situation then. Our first responders reflected the disciples, how they managed every day, how their lives will never return to what it was, before from what they have seen every day. The one constant in their struggles and our struggle is we all can walk with Jesus, walk along the road to Emmaus with Him.
As we slowly managed through our isolation there are some still who have not fully recovered. Each of us developed stories and memories, when we got back together, we shared these stories as the disciples shared their stories and experiences as they followed Jesus. Coming back together brought interesting stories, stories how we survived, the coming back together was like a celebration, a resurrection of believers. We shared together as one the light of Scripture and we found a new understanding and new inspirations in the Hope that we can sit down at a table together and break bread. And as we sit together, we will see some of all the things that were right before us, things we somehow lost in our hectic lives. When we struggle with questions of meaning and we just cannot understand what is happening around us, the answer is often right before us. The disciples did see what was right before them, it took time as they sat together to share in the breaking of bread.
“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then the disciples’ eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.”
What things in your lives opened your eyes and your heart because someone welcomed you or you opened your own heart, your door, your life and invited them to share with you a blessing in the form of breaking and sharing the bread of Christ?
Let us Pray: Dear God, companion on the way, you walk behind, beside, beyond; you catch us unawares. Break through the disillusionment and despair clouding our vision, that, with wide-eyed wonder, we may find our way and journey on as messengers of your good news. This we pray in the name of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Reflections by Bob 