Third Sunday of Easter ~ In The Breaking of the Bread

I love the gospel story of the road to Emmaus and how “He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”  Luke 24:30-31

So often things are right in front of me and I do not recognize them or realize the significance of the event until a later time.  Bear with me as I share with you awakening experiences that happened to me on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

Now I knew that those holy days would be difficult for me because, first of all, they are my favorite and second of all, they were my Mom’s favorite!  So, I had a pretty rough day Thursday and managed to get through most of Mass without losing composure until the very end when the body of our Lord was placed in the day chapel for adoration, the church was darkened, the altar was stripped and we sang “Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray.”

My Mom was not afraid to die but she was afraid to leave us behind.  Over and over she said to me that she wanted to be surrounded by us and wanted to die in the comfort of her home.  I will be forever grateful to our God that he granted that last prayer for her.  As she was approaching death I kept thinking that those weeks were her “agony in the garden.”  I did not realize it until Holy Thursday that Jesus was showing me both sides of that night; his perspective as the one approaching death, and the perspective of the disciples who were asked to “stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray.”  As the Gospel was read and those words of our Lord were proclaimed, the weight of that responsibility really came upon me.  As I sat and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, I realized Jesus was not just asking that of his disciples one terrifying night, he asks that of each of us every day.  I wanted to curl up on the floor and stay in that chapel all night.  We are asked to be present to each other, to pray for each other, to stand by each other in times of trouble.  In the broken bread and in my broken heart I found the face of my savior.

In those final hours, she knew that her time was coming.  She told us that she loved us and she breathed her last.  She gave herself back to God whom she loved above all, “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.”  Jesus showed us how to live, how to care for each other, how to die and finally how to surrender our very self to God.  I pray that your eyes might be opened to recognize how Jesus is trying to reveal himself to you every day.

#staywithmepraywithme  #breakthebread   #receivejesus

Shalom,

Tina