Third Sunday of Easter Grasp the Kairos moment (the right moment) First Reading : ( Acts 2:14,22-33 ) : God raised Christ from the dead . Second Reading : ( 1 Pet 1:17-21 ) : Jesus redeemed us by his own precious blood. Gospel : ( Lk 24:13-35 ) : Jesus appeared to two disciples on the way to Emmaus Chinese Classics “This side a range of hills and there a peak: From different vantage point, a different mountain. To me it is not given to know the true face of Lushan Mountain, Because I am in it.” (1) “The tree wishes to be still but the wind will not stop; The son wishes to take care of his parents but they are no longer there.” (2) This is what Luke wrote in Chapter 24 of his Gospel. After Jesus' resurrection, two of his disciples were going to the village of Emmaus. And on the road they met Jesus. The Bible says their hearts were heavy and they did not recognize Jesus. (Refer to Luke 24:13-35) There are two reasons why a person cannot recognize Jesus or cannot see something. The first reason might be because “he is in the mountain”, the other is because of “the dark corner of heart”. In one of his poems Su Shi wrote: “This side a range of hills and there a peak: From different vantage points a different mountain. To me it is not given to know the true face of Lushan Mountain, Because I am in it.”(1) Lushan is an impressive and distinguished-looking mountain. It looks different when viewed from far, near, high and low. We cannot see Lushan clearly because we are within the mountain itself. Sometimes we do not know truth or Christ because we are inside. Sometimes we do not feel the love of our father or mother, or how fortunate to be living in Hong Kong or in a stable and prosperous society, because we are unmindful of the contented life with which we are blessed. Until one day when we have lost our parents do we realize how good they are: “The tree wishes to be still but the wind will not stop; The son wishes to take care of his parents but they are no longer there.”(2) Or when we are suddenly thrown into war and turmoil we feel how blessed we are to live in a peaceful and prosperous world. Indeed we can be blind in other ways. In our lives we have “blind spots”, something we cannot understand, or do not want to understand. We do not want to change so we do not want to understand, even refuse to do so. Can it be that a student does not realize the importance of studying? He refuses to realize it so he continues to immerse himself in TV programs, making hours of phone calls, continues to date at inappropriate times. It is because he does not want to understand. The Gospel says the two disciples' minds were blocked, therefore they could not recognize Jesus. We do not know the situation at the time or the feelings of the two disciples. But it could be one of the above situations. So Jesus needed personally to open their eyes. One way Jesus used was to explain clearly to them all the references to the Messiah in the Scriptures, beginning with Moses and the prophets, up to the present time. In order to understand Jesus we must understand the Bible, not just one section but the entire Bible. We cannot cite only one chapter or even one book. We must know the New Testament and also the Old Testament, know each book and all seventy-three Books of the Bible. Only then can we find from among these Books Truth and Life. While the disciples were talking with Jesus along the way, without realizing it they arrived at the village. Jesus moved as if to continue on, but the two disciples pressed him to stay on with them. They said to Jesus, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ Inviting Jesus to stay with is an important step in getting to know Jesus. Jesus' presence can last only a short time. We must invite Jesus to remain with us, take the initiative and grasp the opportunity – the Kairos Moment. Some say, “Stupid people give up opportunities, clever people make use of opportunities, wise people create opportunities” and in their lives look for ways in which to know Jesus better. Now the two disciples at least took advantage and grasped at the chance to stay together with Jesus. Actually we should not only make use of opportunities but we must create opportunities and in our lives look for ways to know Jesus better. For example, everyday we should reserve some time for ourselves to meditate on life and enter more deeply into our consciences to approach Jesus. When we look up to the heavens we should allow time to look carefully, spend time so see a little more; when we look down on earth we should feel happy and grateful to accept the numerous gifts the Lord has given us. The more we gaze, the more we listen, the more we meditate, we help ourselves to be in contact with Christ and with life. After they had pressed Jesus to remain with them He shared supper with them. During supper, Jesus raised and blessed the bread, broke it and gave it to them. Immediately their hearts and eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus. To recognize Jesus and be in touch with life, an important way is to receive the Sacraments. ‘Breaking bread’ is Mass. As the apostles recognized Jesus when breaking the bread, so we should recognize Jesus when receiving Holy Communion during Mass. However, as soon as the disciples recognized Jesus, he disappeared. Then they recalled their experience of being together with Jesus and said, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’. Experience is very important. Reflecting on our experience is even more important. Once we have had a good experience, we want to share it with others. In the course of sharing, reflecting, speaking of our experience, we are once again repeating the experience and going through it again. It was in reflecting again that the two disciples realized that ‘their hearts had been burning within them.’ Many people only recall unfavorable experiences and forget some of the good experiences. Actually, for everyone of us, if we can sometimes try to recall our past we will be able to have an experience similar to that of the disciples at Emmaus. (1)橫看成嶺側成峰,遠近高低各不同; 不識廬山真面目,只緣身在此山中。 (2)樹欲靜而風不息,子欲養而親不在。 |