Novena day 2

Novena Day II The Appearance on the Road to Emmaus. Luke 24: 13-35 Now that very day two of them 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. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to 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?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem. Journey together. Second, to journeytogether. The Church is called to walk together, to be synodal Christians are called to walk at the side of others, and never as lone travellers. I have been Living in Mexico for two years now and it certainly is a very different experience. Yes, the speak Spanish, they eat tacos every day and nothing is good unless they put chili on it, but that isn’t what I am talking about. One of the things unique about living in Mexico is you are always with other people; you are seldom alone. If you go for a walk people will join you, if I have to go to the airport someone will always say, “I will ride along with you.” You almost never see people eating alone in a restaurant, and when you go into a restaurant you always greet others as you pass by, “provecho!” enjoy your meal. Mexico is a very relational culture, it is about being with other people, sharing things with one another. It is a Catholic country. I have learned that there is much similar in the Filipino culture, not just the strong Catholic faith, but also the importance of relationships, the importance of family. There are many words in Spanish that just don’t exist in English that refer to relationships. The sister of my sister-in-law is my cuncuna, the person who shares your name is my tocayo, the parents of your son or daughter in-law is your consuegra, like balaie in Filipino. And the most important word of all, compadre. Mexicans are amazed that you don’t have a word for compadre, but more so than not having a word, there is no special relationship between the parents and god-parents of a child. In the United States we are madly in love with the individual.We live in a protestant country. It is always me and my choice. We decree what is right and wrong; we mouth litanies of our precious individuality: my body, my private property, my rights, my needs, my fulfillment, my conscience, my interests, even my border. It doesn’t matter that you lived in this country for 20 years, that your spouse and children are US citizens, you’ve paid taxes and made the US a better place. You broke the law, we are sending you back, or to some third country in the middle of Africa. The law is more important than the family. There was a recent survey on the happiest countries in the world. Mexico was number 10 and the US was number 24. There were many factors to determine the ranking but Mexican was first in never eating alone; whereas in the US 26% of us eat alone and the number is rising. It is interesting, in the US you never talk to someone you don’t know in a restaurant or bus or elevator in Mexico you are always greeting one another. Even in Mexico City a city of over 20 million people. Of course, Mexico isn’t perfect, but people are more relational. You want to be in relationship with others. You don’t want to be alone. Even as a Redemptorist I must say that the Mexican Redemptorists understand much more that they are on a journey together. In the US many times journey alone. Today’s theme emphasize that we are called to journey together. As Catholic Christians we never walk alone. We are journeying together. The gospel is about a journey, the road to Emaus. We are called to journey together, to be synodal Christians we walk side by side, never as lone travelers. That was the great message of Pope Francis, that even the Pope and the Bishops don’t walk ahead of us. No, to be Church means that we journey together. The Gospel is interesting because it only names one of the two disciples. Cleophas, Cleophas who never is mentioned in any other place in the scripture. In John’s Gospel (19:25) it mentions; Mary the wife of Cleophas. So I like to imagine this is a married couple who were making their way to Emmaus and Jesus joins them on their journey. We have the sacrament of marriage so couples can journey together. Who is it that you journeying with? Is it your spouse? Another relative? A good friend? What I can say for sure, is that you are journeying with the Church. You are not journeying alone. The way, or the journey to Emaus is about movement. It has at least nine verbs describing movement. “Cleophas and the other disciple are going.” (13) Jesus “came near and went with them.” (15) They “came near” Emmaus (28). Jesus “walked ahead of them.” (28) “He went in to stay with them.” (29) “he vanished from their sight.” (29) and “they got up and returned to Jerusalem.” (33) The theme of our Novena, this jubilee year: Pilgrims of hope. What is a pilgrim? A pilgrim is someone who is on the move. And our quote for the day says we are called to walk side by side with others, never as lone travelers. That is what it means to be Church, we are in this journey together. Jesus did not come to save ME! He came to save US! My strongest experience of journey was when I made the pilgrimadge the camino of Santiago de Compostela. I madid the camino with my nephew, Patrick. We meet people along the way, some we traveled with for a few hours, others a few days but Patrick and I were making the journey together. If I needed something or lost the camino I could always call on my nephew Patrick. “I don’t have any Euros on me, can you loan me some til we get to the next town?” I spoke Spanish so I could translate for my nephew. We helped each other out. But most importantly we were there for each other. When I was tired and wanted to give up my nephew encouraged me to continue on. When my nephew got angry about something I would try to calm him down. With the help of each other we made it across the whole of Spain 930 kilometers, 575 miles 32 days. We are made for each other, that’s what marriage is for, that is what friends are for, that is what family is for, that is what the Church is for. To help each other out. The lighten the burden, to point out the way. To lift our spirits when we are down. To point out the way when we are lost, to lighten the load when we are overburdened. Companions on the journey provide support in good times and bad. They help us to make good choices. Yes, we are companions on the journey. We do not travel alone. Together we build the kingdom of God. Together we create a society that is more just and world filled with peace. We journey together and we help each other to reach the ultimate goal: union with Jesus forever.