{"id":6789,"date":"2021-12-01T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T00:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=6789"},"modified":"2021-11-28T08:58:20","modified_gmt":"2021-11-28T00:58:20","slug":"285-emmaus-sacraments-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=6789","title":{"rendered":"285. Emmaus: Sacraments and Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

29\u00a0<\/sup>\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 24:29-31<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0Supper at Emmaus by <\/span><\/a>Hendrick Terbrugghen<\/a>, \u00a0c.1621 (Public domain).<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Emmaus, we have come to appreciate, is about the healing of wounds and brokenness. That\u2019s about life and life\u2019s journey. In life\u2019s journey, we are bound to be wounded sometimes. The two disciples from Emmaus may be wounded and broken, but they do not opt out of life. They may be feeling despondent on the road away from the place that gave them wounds and brokenness, but the Lord will join them right round the next bend, even if they do not recognize him.<\/span><\/p>\n

From each of the Gospels, we read of several narratives of resurrection appearances of the Risen Lord to his disciples. They point us to the truth that Jesus is not only a figure of the past, but is alive and mysteriously present in the world. As the early disciples made a transition to recognize the Risen Lord\u2019s presence, so must we. Today, we are invited to make that transition by living out the sacraments<\/em><\/strong>. They call us to recognize the presence of Christ in our lives and be transformed thereby. We get there by welcoming the Lord through the Spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

In How to Understand the Sacraments<\/em>, authors Philippe B\u00e9guerie and Claude Duchesneau urge that the first thing we do is to stop thinking of the sacraments as something quasi-magical. Move away from thinking that it is enough for an action to be performed or a word to be spoken by someone who has the \u201cpower\u201d (a priest, a minister of the sacrament) for the result to be achieved. God\u2019s forgiveness of sin in an \u201cabsolution\u201d, for example, cannot possibly be effective without sincere cooperation from the person who receives it. Likewise, \u201creceiving grace\u201d at Communion cannot possibly happen without a sincere disposition and life witness on the part of the communicant. You cannot possibly claim to have \u201creceived\u201d grace<\/em> at the altar if the very next minute right outside the church you are disgrace<\/em>fully ready to smash somebody\u2019s car for blocking your way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vatican II reminds us that the sacraments are sacraments of faith. We need to rediscover the place of human freedom and adjust well our response to the actions of the living God. The sacraments are effective, B\u00e9guerie and Duchesneau insist, only if they express our life of faith. They are there to awaken and provoke our faith. Nothing is instantaneous like magic. They take time and they take time over our life journey. It is concrete. It is life. Luke 24:13-35 suggests that everyone is a pilgrim on the road to Emmaus. It is an ancient catechesis that the authors follow in three stages.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. A Mysterious Presence on the Human Road<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The two men walking on the road and talking about what happened in their lives are ourselves, are all humankind. And it is on life\u2019s journey that the Lord makes himself known. We are mistaken for thinking that we are out there in search of Christ; it is quite the other way round. He surprises us at a place and a time we least expect to meet him. He comes to meet us, even as we are preoccupied with our own concerns and least expect his presence right in front of us.<\/span><\/p>\n