3rd Sunday of Eastertide Burning in our hearts As I look round our church, I wonder at all the different people drawn to our Eucharist Sunday after Sunday. Few, if any, are there because of social pressures, habit or fear. Rather the overwhelming majority are there because of a fire burning within their hearts that calls them to worship, with others, and especially in the breaking of bread. What is this fire? For most of us, we barely feel it in the ordinary sense of the word ‘feel’. What we do know is that if we don’t go on the Sunday something is missing in our life. It is like our body craving essential nutrients which we hardly missed when we did not have them. Most of the time we are like the confused disciples, walking into the sunset, with a stranger patiently telling us that it all makes sense, we need only believe in God’s powerful love which can deal quite well with suffering, death and confusion. Sometimes, but oh so rarely sometimes, we recognise Jesus in the breaking of bread. We have a moment of insight that says, yes, so that is what it is all about. And just like Jesus did to the disciples at Emmaus, he disappears from our sight. We are left with senses, feeling, ideas, that all is so much greater than we could have thought or imagined and that it does ‘hang together’ even though Jesus does not hang around long enough to explain it all, or even explain much. So like the disciples, we turn our backs on the setting sun, return to dark Jerusalem where everything appeared to go wrong, and share with our fellow disciples, the incredible news that we believe in something never heard before and that we are prepared to follow Jesus and stake our lives on him. Dear fellow disciples, your presence at Sunday Eucharist is a joy to me and supports my faith.
Sr Kym Harris OSB |