Adpropinquans | Near

Jesus himself drew near and went with them - Luke 24: 15

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"That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him." Luke 24: 13-16

Two disciples going to Emmaus are immersed in sadness, completely devastated, according to them everything ended on Good Friday. Jesus, in whom they placed their hope, turned out to be a failure, was crucified, and died a cruel and embarrassing death. Their eyes and hearts are so filled with sadness and closed by it that they do not even recognize Jesus who joins them on the way.

How often in our own lives we do not notice Jesus who walks through life with us. We often focus only on our own affairs, on our own feelings. Especially in times of sadness, suffering or problems, we do not notice Christ who is with us and wants to be our support. Jesus wants to be with us in all moments of our lives, especially the difficult ones. Just as he taught the disciples going to Emmaus, helped them understand and believe, Jesus also wants to help us and be our support in difficulties and suffering. He wants to talk to us, strengthen us and our faith. However, we must first notice that He is with us, that He walks through life with us, and incline our hearts to listen to His words.

And the second point: the disciples had hope in Jesus, they expected something from him. True, we should put our hope in Jesus, but at the same time it cannot only be hope for what we wish for, for our own expectations. "But we had hoped that" say the disciples on the road to Emmaus. How often do we also have our own assumptions about God and His plans. We think we understand, or we just hope, that God's plan is the same as our own plan, our expectations. However, often this is not the case. God's plans are not adjusted to our plans, we must adjust our plans and expectations to what God desires, to His plan. 

Even if we feel disappointed in some way by what God has done in our lives, the path he has led us, we must trust Him, entrust ourselves completely to God and His plans and go through life with Him.

Reflection on Luke 24: 13-35 by Agata Wierzbowska

(Listen to podcast here)

Nolite peccare | Stop sinning

"Be sensible and stop sinning" - 1 Cor 15:34.

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Apostle Paul reminds us about eternal life in the heavenly kingdom. Since we involve ourselves in our daily duties so much. We pay a lot for health, well-being, furniture, clothes, jewelry, etc. When we go to the shopping center, we see hundreds of people looking for promotions. Of course, it is not bad to live a pleasant life and enjoy it,  but we cannot forget our future life and prepare ourselves for it.

Because of the pandemic, we lost so many friends and this fact made us sad. So, we should appreciate the gift of life from God. We live today and tomorrow we can die. Are we ready for that? As baptized people, we need to live as Christ lived. We should be brave and know how to face death (v. 31). We can learn from the example of Paul who was with Christ Jesus all the time. He was not afraid even when he stayed at the risk of death. With the Lord, he was capable of fighting beasts. These beasts were temptations, desires, weaknesses, pleasures, dangers, sickness, etc.

Apostle Paul lived a sensible life as a soldier of Christ. He was not a fool when he changed his way of life and followed Jesus. He stopped sinning and said goodbye to bad friends (v. 33). As a follower of Christ, he felt embarrassed that some people still were far from God (v. 34). He did his best and offered life for the salvation of human souls. Let us do the same. 

Reflection on 1 Corinthians 15:29-35 by Fr. Józef Trzebuniak SVD.

(Listen to the Podcast here)

Orans Dominum (1 Sam. 1:26)

In the first reading, the readers know that Hannah is Elkanah's wife. Hannah had no children. As a result,  this situation made her so sad. Even her rival, Peninnah,  Elkanah's other wife, provoked her sore; to make her fret. So, one day Hannah stood near the doorpost of the Lord's temple and started praying to the Lord with her lips.  Her voice was inaudible and she was weeping uncontrollably. While she was acting like that, Eli,  the priest, sitting in his chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple thought she was drunk.

This morning, I found an empty glass on my table containing ants. These ants were still alive, but they couldn't come out from the glass because the surface of the glass is too sly.  I was wondering, why did they come into it if they couldn't come out? I thought that maybe they just thought about what they needed and neglected about the risk. But, after that, I let them out to have another chance of a better life.

Both of these stories are quite similar but they have a different focus. The ants were stuck in the glass because they just focused to get foods or drinks from the bottom of the glass. But, Hannah was presumed drunk by Eli the priest because she focused on praying to God, standing near the Lord's temple, moving her lips but inaudible, and weeping uncontrollably.

Our focus is a crucial matter. When we are doing something or anything, what are in our mind or act? What are actually our motivations and our focus? Is it for our self-fulfillment? Are we doing and thinking because of the Lord and for the Lord only to glorify Him? This morning, I would like to remind us to start our day and come to think about our motivation and our focus on our plan this whole day. Therefore, let us pray that the Holy Spirit leads us in our way and set our mind to our Master, Jesus Christ.

By Yulius Telaumbanua, Indonesia.