Scripture Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1:17-21 Luke 24:13-35
This weekend is First Communion Weekend in our St. Mary’s Parish. The celebration of First Communion gives us all an opportunity to remember our First Communion, that special day when we for the first time came to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
For many of us it has been many communions since that day. And sometimes we forget what it is all about. In some ways we are a lot like the two disciples in the Gospel today who do not even recognize Jesus as we walks the 7 miles with them from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And hopefully like the same disciples we too come to know Jesus more and more in the breaking of the bread of the Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread we call the Eucharist/Communion each week.
For if we want to be the reminder of Jesus, that person of Jesus to the world of today, we need to continue to come to know Jesus.
– The Jesus who is patient with us, for the many times we forget or just don’t get it, when it comes to our faith and living it.
– The Jesus who cares about us all and our concerns for self and for others.
– The Jesus who gives us second chances, and third chances, and fourth chances, because he knows we are human and sin.
– The Jesus who always loves us, nourishes us and nudges us toward a more lively faith and more devoted service of others.
The Disciples of today’s Gospel, may have been distressed at the death of Jesus, but for sure they had open minds as they spoke with the stranger on their way home, who turns out to be Jesus. Jesus is here for us not just today, but every day, every weekend, if we just open our minds.
As one saying says, “A mind is like a parachute, only works when it’s open.”
This weekend we pray that our children and each of us will come to know Jesus more and more and more, and will be Jesus to others – more and more and more each day, at home, at school, at work, in the community and in our Parish community.