For the disciples on the way to Emmaus, "we had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel." Their hopes were shattered when their leader was crucified. Can we identity at times with these two disciples? When have our dreams been dashed? We had hoped our children would worship in the same way we do. We had hoped all 2600 parish families would be active stakeholders in the life of the parish.
The original disciples did not understand the meaning of the suffering and death of Jesus. They thought they were defeated. They did not understand that death was not a defeat. Rather, death was the way to share more fully in the Risen Life of Jesus.
Like the original disciples, we too have difficulty understanding the meaning of setbacks, suffering, death in our lives. We had hoped...
For the original disciples, the Risen Lord was present in their midst but they did not recognize Him. From this account, the key to finding Christ is know where to look. It is in the hospitality shown to the stranger and in the breaking of the bread.
We begin this weekend our annual cycle of stewardship. The Emmaus story is a stewardship story. All is a gift of God. In the breaking of the bread (the mystery of the Eucharist) and in our social outreach to the strangers in our midst, we discover the presence of the Risen Lord.
This evening we celebrated our stewardship appreciation dinner at Shadow Lake. I am grateful for all who live out their stewardship commitment in the service of our parish community.
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