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Diocese Armagh Clergy Conference 2005 Dom Mark-Ephrem's homily
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| Dom Mark-Ephrem's homily |
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Luke's Gospel depicts Christ joining the two Emmaus travellers with a very clear intention in mind: in the face of all that has troubled them so deeply, His desire is to lead them to understand God's ways in the light of the Sacred Scriptures. As He guides them through the Bible, explaining everything about Himself in the light of God's inspired Word, they are led to make sense out of the seemingly incomprehensible. At the point where we first meet them on the road, these men are engaged on a path we are all tempted to take in moments of suffering: that of separation from others. The evangelist insists upon the fact that these disciples were making their way out of Jerusalem. These men were taking the wrong path by turning their backs on the community. Like them, do we not all too frequently close in upon ourselves when we feel let down? When we are overcome by sentiments of deception and failure, are we not inclined to cut ourselves off from the community? St Luke tells us that although the two travellers were walking side by side they weren't in communion with each other. They were 'talking things over' is how the liturgical translation puts it - but a better rendering of the Greek would be that they were "disputing with each other". When things are at a low ebb, even with those closest to us, those with whom we share discipleship and ministry, we begin to have difficulties. When we are struggling tensions come to the fore, disputes arise. The state in which Jesus finds Cleopas and his companion is a sorry one: Their confidence is broken, their hopes dashed, they feel their trust has been betrayed. Blinded by sorrow, they are left without vision. We are told that their eyes were closed; it is as a result of their lack of vision that they fail to recognise the Lord in all that has happened. Note the turning point of the story! Their conversion occurs when the disciples' eyes are opened. Does this note their eyes were opened not send us back to the story of the Fall in Genesis 3? Does it not remind us of that point in the account of our wounded humanity's story when the eyes of the first man and the first woman were opened to see their own and each other's nakedness? The sad awakening to their shared guilt which occurred then gave birth to shame and all the ills which have marred our lives ever since: enmity, mutual accusation, suffering of all sorts ... Ever since that eye-opening moment we live in fear … as a result we take refuge in hiding - from God, ourselves and each other. In contrast, the opening of the Emmaus pilgrims' eyes by the Risen Christ has a very different effect! It proves itself to be a healing, reconciling experience for them. The two disciples are brought into an experience of restored communion with each other – their previous dispute turns into mutual agreement, encouragement and affirmation. They are immediately spurred on to make an about turn in their lives. They head back to Jerusalem where they re-engage themselves with the brethren, undertaking with fresh heart their part in the Church's mission, becoming Christ's witnesses within and beyond the Christian community. The perplexed, slow to understand, Emmaus travellers remind us of another traveller, the Ethiopan pilgrim, presented to us in this evening's liturgy. This Ethiopian officer whom Philip met along the road was also making his way out of Jerusalem. Here we have a man, journeying along life's way, posing lots of questions and looking for somebody to help him find answer to his queries. He is trying to grasp the meaning of the prophetic word of God but needs a teacher who can open up for him the treasure chest of God's inspired Word. Philip is sent to help him understand the meaning of the text he reads and lead him to experience in and through that word the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through the opening of the Sacred Scriptures, a deep desire is born within the Ethiopian officer to become configured to Christ and part of the Christian community. Does it really take much imagination on our behalf to see the overall challenge of today's sharing being brought to our attention here? As the Church's ministers we are called to live an Emmaus Road experience so as to be better equipped for the mission of evangelisation confided to us! Like Philip, it falls upon us to open the Scriptures for others. We will only be able to do this effectively if we first allow the Risen Christ to open their message for us. As baptised Christians we are called, like the Ethiopan officer, to be immersed in Christ and configured to Him in the community of believers. Note how our first reading from the Book of Acts culminates in the Ethiopian's baptism and our gospel passage in the disciples' sharing in the Breaking of Bread. Both these sacraments point to entry into an experience of the Body of Christ, the Christian Community: the Church. The end of the journey for the Ethiopian pilgrim and for the companion disciples we meet today is Christ! … Christ first encountered in the Sacred Scriptures and, leading on from this, in the sacraments of the Church. It is only though the opening and explanation of the Inspired Word of God by the Risen Christ that we ourselves and then, later on, through us, that others will be led into a proper appreciation of the sacraments and full participation in the life of the Christian community. What was needed to bring the Emmaus pilgrims to recognise that Christ was in their midst … speaking through God's Word, revealed in sacramental signs and to be encountered in the in the community of believers? It is perhaps hard for us to fathom, but Christ had first to be taken from the disciples. He had to vanish from their sight … at least momentarily! The apparent absence of the Lord, His seeming disappearance is required to lead us to find Him anew in the Church. I am reminded of that story in Genesis 32 which depicts the patriarch Jacob as having struggled with the Lord, and precisely in the struggle having recognised Him and obtained His blessing. A wound was left in Jacob's flesh after the Lord's parting to remind him that he had been visited by God and was called from thence forth to walk more closely with Him. Likewise for us! Is it not often through the struggles of our lives that we encounter the Living God? Is it not because of the wounds we carry that we are constantly reminded of our need for the Lord and encouraged to stay close to Him? Jacob named the place of his struggle Peniel - "God's Face" - because he said: "Here, I was given to see God face to face and lived to tell the story" (Gen. 32:30). We are all meant to live: to live and tell our story! In taking leave of the disciples Jesus confided to them the mission to be His witnesses. For us to allow ourselves to be renewed and to continue that mission today. Finally, the Emmaus gospel prepares and leads us into Luke's version of the Ascension which I read and resume from Eugene Peterson's translation: The Risen Christ opened their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles, and as He took leave of them He raised His hands and He blessed them. While they returned to Jerusalem bursting with God and there spent their time in the temple praising God … literally in thanksgiving – that is in Eucharist. May our experience of this day truly help us to live and tell the story! May it help us become what we celebrate so often for others: the sacrament of Christ's love, the sign of His self-giving: Eucharist! Amen. |
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