Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Sad and Confused? Open Up the Word 

This week’s gospel reading at Mass is the fascinating story of Jesus’ appearance to two of His followers on the road to Emmaus just after His resurrection. 

The two disciples (not members of the 12 apostles, but other followers of Jesus) were heading home after the Passover feast in Jerusalem. They were at the same time sad and confused. Sad because the man they thought would redeem Israel had been put to death by the Romans three days earlier, and confused because some of the women disciples had reported that the tomb was empty and angels had announced Jesus was alive. 
As the two men walked, Jesus Himself came alongside and began to walk with them, but they did not recognize Him. Why didn’t they recognize Him? It’s hard to say. Maybe they had been crying and couldn’t see clearly. Maybe everyone’s head was covered to protect against the sun and the dust. Maybe they had only seen and heard Jesus from a distance and did not know what He looked like face-to-face. Or maybe Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearance was, as Scripture implies in a few places, somewhat different compared to before His Passion. 

To remedy their sadness and confusion, Jesus immediately began to explain the Scriptures. Well, not exactly immediately. The first thing He did was say to the two men, “Oh, how foolish you are!” (Ouch, I hate it when the Creator of the Universe calls me a fool. But in my case, at least it only happens on days that end in “Y”.) 

The gospel explains, “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures.” 

Wow, that must’ve been quite a lecture, to have the Incarnate Word of God interpret the written Word of God. 

When they reached the village, the two disciples invited this mysterious teacher, whom they still did not recognize, to stay with them for the night; He accepted their hospitality. As they sat down to eat dinner, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight.” 

In one of the key verses of the gospel reading, the two disciples said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way and OPENED THE SCRIPTURES to us?” (emphasis added). 

The answer to spiritual sadness and confusion is to open the Scriptures. 

However, it’s important to have a plan when reading the Bible. For example, I’m sure many people can relate to what I did a few decades ago. Realizing finally that the Word of God was important, I picked up a Bible and started reading it like a Tom Clancy novel. I figured I would simply start with the first chapter, “Genesis,” and read it straight through to the last chapter, “Maps.” 

I muddled through Genesis and Exodus, recognizing and enjoying some of the famous stories about Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, etc. But when I got to all those genealogies in Numbers and confusing laws in Leviticus, I got so confused I put the book down and concluded two things: I was a moron and the Bible was written only for theologians. (It turns out I was half right. The Bible was NOT written only for theologians.)

If you’re not familiar with the Scriptures, a good plan is to read the readings that will be proclaimed at Mass on Sunday. This will achieve two things: first, you’ll get a taste of some Old Testament events; some New Testament epistles (usually written by St. Paul); and most importantly, stories from the Gospels, which chronicle Jesus’ earthly ministry. Second, you’ll already be familiar with the readings when you show up for Mass, which will help you understand and appreciate them better.
After a while, you’ll realize that you’re actually more familiar with the stories in Scripture than you thought, and you’ll be ready to dig in and read complete chapters on your own.

An understanding of God’s Word has the power to change sadness and confusion into joy and hope. Just as happened with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, if the Sacred Scriptures are opened up, we will be filled with faith and joy, and our relationship with the Lord — our ability to recognize Him and know Him — will be greatly improved. And after all, that’s the only reason God created us in the first place: to enter into a loving relationship with Him. 

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