RETURN TO MAIN DIRECTORY

PRAYER AND THE BIBLE - PART TWO 
Copyright © 2007 Kay Murdy

"Mane nobiscum, Domine!" Stay with us Lord!

The Word of God is different from other forms of literature. Other books may inform the mind while scripture opens the "eyes of the heart" (Eph 3:16-17). This is the Benedictine tradition of Lectio Divina, reading "under the eye of God," reading "with" the eye of God, allowing God's word to penetrate us, heal us, forgive us, love us and accomplish wholeness salvation in us. As you read the scriptures, something may strike you -- a verse, a paragraph or a scene. Return to it during the day. Treasure God's word in your heart. Like Mary respond, "I am your servant. Be it done unto me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

Luke's gospel provides an excellent opportunity for Lectio Divina, and of union with Christ through Word and Sacrament. It is an Easter story of two disciples who met the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus. Let us join them as we meet the risen Jesus on that first Easter.

Let us picture ourselves like the disciples of Emmaus walking along the road. Only one of them is named in the story, "Cleopas." Perhaps the unnamed disciple is each one of us on our own journey as the risen Jesus walks beside us. He said, "Where two or three are gathered, there am I in your midst" (Matthew 18:20). All of life is a series of Emmaus moments -- meeting the broken stranger in the broken word, the broken bread, and the broken world. But sometimes, our eyes are blinded to that encounter.

OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
READ LUKE 24:13-16
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.

Their eyes were prevented from recognizing him (Lk 24:16).

We are all pilgrims trying to reach the same destination as we walk in the footsteps of Christ. But even when we walk along together, we may not be on the same pathway because no one's spiritual journey is exactly like any other. A Christian should be a person who walks toward the light, to a dawn that breaks forth, not to a night that falls. But sometimes we may be walking in the wrong direction, away from Christ and the path that leads from Jerusalem -- away from the cross, away from the sunrise of Easter toward the nightfall of Emmaus. 

The disciples of Emmaus were walking in the wrong direction because they were discouraged and disheartened. Though Jesus walked alongside them, they failed to recognize him because their eyes, ears, minds and hearts were closed. Are there situations in your life where it seem as if Jesus is totally absent and silent? Does it seem that he has deserted you in your hour of need, and that you are alone in your pain? At such moments, it may be Easter week for some, but for you it is still Good Friday.

When the disciples failed to recognize Jesus, he did not say to them, "Open your eyes and see! I am Jesus risen from the dead!" Rather, he entered into their experience, asking "What are you talking about as you walk along?"

READ LUKE 24: 17-21
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

What are you discussing as you go along your way?

Jesus listens to our stories. What is your story, your concerns, your disappoints, your hopes that you can share with him? Perhaps it is a marriage failure, the loss of a job, a disappointment from a friend, or the diagnosis of a doctor. As we read the scriptures, our minds and hearts run back and forth between the page and our human experience. We make connections between the sacred word and our story: "This is my situation. It really is like that!"

Jesus told his disciples: "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (Jn.8:31-32). Were the disciples of Emmaus looking for a political liberator to set them free? They utter some of the saddest words in Scripture, "We had hoped that he would have been the one to set Israel free" (v.21). 

On another road, the road that led toward Jerusalem, Jesus told his disciples: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34). The disciples of Emmaus did not want a suffering Messiah, but if we follow God's plan, Jesus' way, it is the path of suffering that leads to glory. Paul had to come to terms with the cross. He realized that for many it was a scandal, a stumbling block, a disgrace or a curse. But for those who believe "it is the power of God" (1 Cor.1:18-23). Unless we enter into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, God's Word, will remain a closed and locked book, and we will read with closed minds and hearts. We will be like those who "look at the words but do not perceive, who hear the words but do not understand" (Is 6:9).

READ LUKE 24:25-27
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.

Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into glory?

Jesus says that is "necessary" that he suffer these things so as to enter glory. We might ask, "Why should it be God's will for anyone to suffer in order to be glorified? Is this the way God shows love for us?" In moments of tragedy and loss we are not satisfied with simple answers. At such times we are up against the mystery of God who says: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8).

Jesus' dying and rising challenges the notion that a broken body is a sign of God's punishment and rejection. Jesus transforms it into a symbol of salvation. God was not absent on the cross, nor at Auschwitz or at the World Trade Center. We only know and believe that God, with his mysterious thoughts and ways, is good, loving and caring and wills the best for us. If it is necessary that Jesus should suffer so as to enter glory, might it not be necessary that we should walk a similar path?

It is the risen Christ who opens the scriptures and unlocks our hearts. Slowly, the disciples began to understand, but something more was needed to fan that spark of hope into a burning flame. It was late afternoon, and soon it would be dark. If Jesus left the disciples now they would remain in the dark. 

READ LUKE 24:28-29
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.

The disciples plead, "Stay with us!" "Abide with us!" Jesus said that he is the vine and we are the branches that we can not live apart from him, "If you abide in me and I in you, you may ask what you will and it will be done for you" (John 15:7). Jesus wants to abide in us. He wants us to meet him in word, prayer and sacrament. He waits for our invitation. "Here I am, standing at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20).

READ LUKE 24:30-32
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?"

Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?

Recognition of Jesus happens within the context of a sacred meal. In the "Breaking of the Bread," their eyes were opened. The disciples had come to know Jesus in the word, and now they  recognize him at the table. With that Jesus disappeared from their sight. The disciples no longer need Jesus' physical presence. When our eyes of faith are opened we no longer have to depend on our physical senses, like Thomas, wanting to see and touch. Jesus says, "Blessed are you who have not seen, yet believe" (John 20:29). Jesus eternally abides in the church in his Sacred Word and Eucharistic presence.

The Lord has risen indeed! Has the Lord risen in your heart?

On fire with the Word of God and Christ's divine presence, Jesus' disciples cannot keep the good news to themselves. They joyfully proclaim the risen Lord to all who will hear. The Christian message is never truly ours until it is shared.

What is your response to this story? Ask the Lord to set your heart on fire with love for Jesus in Word and Sacrament. Pray in thanksgiving for his presence in your life.

THE BIBLICAL MIRROR
The Bible is a mirror by which we can judge our actions. St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions that he spent his youth in dissolute living. Usually his prayer was: "Change my heart Lord . . . but not yet!" One day he prayed in his garden. As he probed the inner recesses of his soul, he said "a great storm broke within me." Augustine broke down and wept. "How long shall I go on saying, 'Tomorrow, tomorrow.' Why not today?" Then he heard a young child chanting, "Take and read!" Augustine reached for his bible lying nearby and was converted by a single verse from Paul's letter to the Romans: "The night is far spent; the day draws near. Let us cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Ro 13:12).  

God's revelation continues in each of us made in the divine image. We are called to look like God's Son and act like him. Look in the Biblical mirror. See whether you can recognize Jesus in yourself.

"Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them" (Mt 18:20).
Find two or three people to pray with and bear each other's burdens. Prayer does not have to be "perfect," or follow a proper format. Don't try to "accomplish" anything. Speak to God  from your hearts about the things that come to your minds. God is close to you and wants to speak to you. Together, look up the following references on prayer in your Bible:

• The power of united prayer.  Matthew 18:19-20
• Prayer is an intimate communication between us and our Father in Heaven. Matthew 6:5-8
• Pray with humility, acknowledging your sin and asking for God's mercy. Luke 18:10-14
• When our understanding fails, pray and trust in God's promises.  James 1:5-8
• The Spirit helps us in our weakness. Romans 8:26-27
• Prayer is affective in physical suffering. James 5:13-16
• Prayer is affective in mental suffering. Philippians 4:6-7
• Pray with persistence. Luke 11:9-10

• Prayer is heard by God and answered. John 15:7

• Prayer can be an ongoing state-of-mind. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

THE NEXT LESSON CONTINUES PRAYER AND THE BIBLE. DO YOU WANT TO CONTINUE READING? OR GO BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS AND CHOOSE ANOTHER TOPIC?