In the Breaking of Bread<\/p>\n
Since Easter Sunday, the Gospel readings have been giving us accounts of the appearances of Jesus to his disciples after the resurrection. These accounts tell us that the apostles were frightened, and that they had doubts even when Jesus appeared among them.<\/p>\n
This tells us two things: first, that the apostles had failed to understand all that Jesus had told them and explained to them about himself before he died on the cross; second, that the acceptance of the resurrection by the apostles depended as much on their faith, as on the physical appearances of Jesus.<\/p>\n
Our own experience is similar to that of the apostles. None of us have seen the risen Christ in person. Yet we are asked to believe in God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose from the dead for us. And so we, too, have to rely on faith to believe in the resurrection. We can never take our faith for granted, and we need to continually strengthen it. Faith has never been as important in our lives as in today\u2019s circumstances. I heard my father say yesterday \u2013\u2018I can\u2019t take much more of this isolation. I just can\u2019t do it\u2019, to which I replied \u2018You can and you will!\u2019 It is all about a positive view point. I watched on TV with Deacon Joe last year\u2019s Marathon in Austria with a runner called Eliud Kipchoge. He managed to do the race in less than two hours. 1 hour, 59 minutes and 39 seconds. Unheard of! This Kenyan highlighted that no human is limited. He is an inspiration to so many of us. These days are days to focus on others. To reach out and help those around us. Let\u2019s not waste this opportunity!<\/p>\n
Our faith in God will be strong only if we have communication with him through prayer. As with human relationships, if we stop talking to God we will quickly loose contact with him and he will mean very little to us. That highlights our need to say our daily prayers \u2013 both in the morning and at night time, whether as a family or quietly in our rooms.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s Gospel, we see that it was during prayer that the apostles recognised Jesus, even though he had been with them on their seven mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus. St. Luke tells us that they recognised him at the breaking of bread. If we have failed to recognise Jesus in the past, we now have the opportunity of meeting him as we break bread in this Eucharist. That Eucharist is sitting at dinner together, is playing games together, is doing the house work together, it is seeing the needs of our neighbours, it is not fighting in our houses with each other, but recognising the presence of God as we come together as an isolated family. We can ask him to deepen our faith during this time of personal and private prayer, and to help us to recognise what he wants us to do in life, by getting to know him better through the Scriptures and our celebrations of the Sacraments \u2013 although that is in the future, hopefully soon!! We pray also that others may recognise us as followers of Jesus and be encouraged by our Christian living.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Gospel highlights community. The story hinges around one sentence: \u2018their eyes were opened and they recognised him.\u2019 In sharing a meal, the disciples recognised Jesus, but they had already welcomed this stranger as a friend.<\/p>\n
What can I\/we do this week to reach out to those around us?
\nPlease take care, be safe, stay at home, be kind to each other and be kind to yourself. May God bless and protect you and may he reward you all for all your goodness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the Breaking of Bread Since Easter Sunday, the Gospel readings have been giving us accounts of the appearances of Jesus to his disciples after the resurrection. These accounts tell us that<\/p>\n