Were not our hearts burning within us?

“That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.”  Luke 24:13-16

These, of course, are the opening verses to the very familiar Gospel story of the Road to Emmaus, which was the Gospel reading this past Sunday.  I wanted this second blog post of mine to touch a little on why I have decided to write, and why I chose the name “You Shattered My Darkness” for this blog, and standing at Mass this past Sunday, listening to the Deacon proclaim those words from Luke, I realized why I am where I am right now.  You see, I realized that we are all very much like those two disciples who were traveling on the road that day – we are not really looking for Christ, even though we may talk about him all of the time, but Jesus himself draws near to us, and actively seeks us out on the roads that we travel.

We Christians do not believe in a passive god that just sits back and waits to see if we stumble to him on our own.  No, our God is constantly seeking us out, presenting Himself to us in the many situations of our lives, just as He did when He appeared to those two disciples that day after the Resurrection.  The two disciples in the story conversed with the Lord during their entire journey that day, but even though Christ was teaching them, exactly as He had done during His life, they did not recognize Him, until he celebrated the Eucharistic meal, the breaking of the bread, with them.

“With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?’”  Luke 24:31-32

How familiar do the words of these disciples sound to us?  How often, upon reflection, have we felt our hearts burning for something greater, but have failed to recognize what it meant in our lives or where it was coming from.  Christ, on that day, shattered the darkness of those two disciples.  They had just been in Jerusalem, and had witnessed, perhaps first hand, the Passion of their Lord.  Yet, they seem to be leaving Jerusalem, perhaps thinking that the magic had passed with Jesus’ death, that they would never again hear or witness his teaching.  Like the Apostles who confined themselves to the upper room, these disciples were likely afraid of what might have happened to followers of Jesus in Jerusalem in the days after his death.  They seem to be unsure of their faith, maybe feeling like it had all been just a very vivid illusion, and not real after all.

But Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior, sought them out that day, and broke through to them.  After Jesus vanished from their midst, we are told that the disciples immediately rushed back to Jerusalem to share their experience of the Risen Christ with the Apostles. 

I am a cradle Catholic, and my parents did a great job of raising me in the faith.  We went to Mass every Sunday, I attended religious education classes, we prayed and talked about religion at home, and I was an active participant and leader in our youth ministry program as a high school student.  That is all to say that even though I have been an active Catholic my whole life, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, I didn’t always really get it, or even realize that I wasn’t getting it.  I was a passive participant, just walking along the road, even though I was actively there in the pew every Sunday, I wasn’t truly engaged, but I don’t think that I even realized it. 

Similarly to the disciples, I finally recognized Christ in the breaking of the bread one Sunday, the summer after graduating from law school.  It just seemed to really resonate that Sunday, although I cannot recall the exact date, the readings, homily, or anything to distinguish that Mass from the previous countless Sundays I had been there.  Yet, I know that Jesus purposefully drew near to me that day, and somehow I was able to actually recognize Him that day.  Christ, that day, absolutely shattered my darkness – the darkness that I had been living in, without even really knowing it. 

Of course, even though that day was definitely transformative, I am still walking the road, constantly struggling to live a life in better imitation of Christ.  But I know now that I want to do everything in my earthly power to remain in the light of Christ, and not return to the darkness, and so I try to walk the road constantly seeking the presence of God.  “You shattered my darkness” is actually a line from the song “Alive Again” by Matt Maher which is one of my favorites (check it out here if you’ve never heard it).

Christ actively seeks each and every person.  He purposefully draws near to us on our own roads.  He never forces us to accept his invitation, but greatly rejoices when we do.

One of the greatest Scriptural examples of this that comes to my mind is the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32).  I’m sure that almost everyone is familiar with this story.  When the younger son finally recognizes that life as one of his father’s servants would be better than the horrible conditions he was living in, and returns home, this is what we hear about the situation: “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20

Here the father, representing God the Father, did not wait for his son to return, he was actively looking for him – how else would he have known to be looking at that moment, if he wasn’t looking, searching, and longing for his son’s return – and then, when he does catch sight of his son, he doesn’t wait for him, he runs towards him and embraces him.  God is actively searching and longing for each one of us – and through his Son, Jesus Christ, seeks to shatter our darkness and to bring us into His light.

As we continue this Easter season, let us pray that we can recognize the burning in our hearts that is the presence of Christ in our lives, and that one day our eyes are never again prevented from recognizing Him.