{"id":6684,"date":"2021-10-16T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-16T00:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=6684"},"modified":"2021-10-15T07:43:40","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T23:43:40","slug":"282-emmaus-and-the-eucharist-in-the-thoughts-of-pope-john-paul-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=6684","title":{"rendered":"282. Emmaus and the Eucharist in the Thoughts of Pope John Paul II"},"content":{"rendered":"

28\u00a0<\/sup>As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.\u00a029\u00a0<\/sup>But they urged him strongly, saying, \u201cStay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.\u201d So he went in to stay with them.\u00a030\u00a0<\/sup>When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.\u00a031\u00a0<\/sup>Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0[Luke 24:28-31<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a>And He Disappeared out of Their Sight<\/em>, by Henry Ossawa Tanner,\u00a0ca. 1898.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the year 2005, Pope John Paul II led the Church in celebrating a Year of the Eucharist. Where was the Holy Father coming from in this matter?<\/span><\/p>\n

At the threshold of the third millennium, Pope John Paul II believed fervently the year 2000 represented an opportunity to make the world a better, safer and more just place. He was full of hope and urged the Church and the world to move forward confidently in peace and reconciliation. In particular, he saw the need and called for the conscious creation of a new culture of international solidarity and co-operation, where all – particularly the wealthy nations and the private sector – accept responsibility for an economic model which serves everyone. \u201cThere should be no more postponement of the time when the poor Lazarus can sit beside the rich man to share the same banquet and be forced no more to feed on the scraps that fall from the table (cf. Luke 16:19-31). Extreme poverty is a source of violence, bitterness and scandal; and to eradicate it is to do the work of justice and therefore the work of peace.”<\/span><\/p>\n

By the Year 2005, however, although the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 was celebrated, the Holy Father felt, in its \u201cgreatness of grace\u201d, the new millennium has turned out to be a sort of \u201ccrude continuation\u201d of the worst events of the past. Nazism, Communism (as he knew it, but which has since changed considerably in steps with remarkable economic growth in the former East Germany, Russia and China), inter-ethnic wars, hunger, social inequality, persecutions have all seeped into the 21st<\/sup> century. These have outlined \u201cdark shadows of violence and blood that endlessly sadden us\u201d. Beginning with the Church, the Holy Father called the world back to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, by celebrating a Year of the Eucharist. He issued an Apostolic Letter for the year, Mane Nobiscom Domine<\/em><\/strong> (Stay with us, Lord).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Letter the Pope exhorted all Christians to rediscover the Eucharist in everyday life, without doing anything out of the ordinary (\u00a729), but placing the emphasis on the \u201cEucharistic dimension\u201d which characterizes Christian community life (\u00a75). Above all, the Pope urged young people to rediscover the Eucharist. Making a heartfelt plea to rediscover the wealth of the Eucharist in the life of the Church and of the world, the Pope pointed to the \u201cimage of the disciples on the way to Emmaus\u201d as a fitting guide. The Lord has promised to be with us always, \u201cto the end of the age\u201d (Matthew 28:20). True enough, he walks with us \u201camid our questions and difficulties, and even bitter disappointments, opening to us the Scriptures and leading us to a deeper understanding of the mysteries of God.\u201d Encountering him fully, we shall be led from the light of the Word to the light of the Bread of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stay with Us, Lord<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The standard bearer in the Holy Father\u2019s thoughts is Mane Nobiscom Domine<\/em>\u00a0which takes its cue from the Emmaus story – \u201cStay with us, Lord\u201d. In this Letter, he points to the Holy Eucharist as the Lord\u2019s response to the request of the two disciples from Emmaus. In the Eucharist, we have Jesus in our midst, ever present not only with us but to us as well. While Christmas is Jesus coming to us, the Eucharist is Jesus staying with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

    With the Emmaus story as the underlying theme of the Letter, the Pope speaks of the Eucharist with a profoundly personal tone: the \u201cbroken Bread\u201d is what \u201cremains\u201d of Jesus, even when it seems that his face has disappeared<\/em><\/strong>. His mysterious presence is like a light that reawakens hope over the “shadows of the declining day” and\u00a0“darkness” blanketing the soul.<\/span><\/p>\n