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I don’t know about you but I am ready to be done with this coronavirus distancing stuff! I imagine that most of you who are reading this are also fed up with our new normal. On this third Sunday of Easter, we are invited to consider how fed up the disciples may have been on the road to Emmaus. It’s not so much the road to Emmaus as it is the road away from Jerusalem! They were fed up; they were discouraged; they were bewildered and they were walking away from Jerusalem. Their hopes were shattered and they could not understand how good would come from the crucifixion of the one they thought was going to be their Savior and Messiah. We can also sometimes become befuddled by the uncertainties of life. We can easily become discouraged when life does not go the way we anticipate or would like it to be. Perhaps today is a good day for us to take a lesson from the disciples who came to discover the risen Christ in the Holy Eucharist!
Even though we cannot gather as we would like to and celebrate the Eucharist in person, Christ, our Savior, is still present and still very much alive!
The Lord is not separated from us by some virus or our distancing practices. Christ is only apart from you and me by our willfulness, by our sin, and by our refusal to recognize him in our midst.
This is a perfect time to draw closer to the Lord and to one another. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God! Romans 8:39
The disciples were leaving Jerusalem, but after their encounter with the risen Christ in the Holy Eucharist, they returned, filled with energy, joy and optimism. They were no longer downcast but energized by their faith in the risen Savior. And, they were determined to share that faith with others! This is the source of our Easter joy, enthusiasm and courage in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. We are his present day disciples and we are to make the proclamation of the risen Christ in our time and under these circumstances. The Lord Jesus looks to you and me to see what we are made of! Do we believe? Are we true disciples who can stand the test of challenge and difficulty? Or, are we only fair day friends of the Lord?
Know I firmly believe that you and I are determined, tenacious and courageous followers of Christ who will not be deterred by the inconvenience of a virus or a government or an economy that is burdensome. We will not let the trials and tribulations of our present time separate us from the love of Christ nor prevent us from truly showing and living our discipleship!
Please don’t forget the St. Anthony Novena continues every Tuesday at 7 pm on the Holy Spirit in Lawrence County YouTube channel.
God love you,
