“Lord, you will show us the path of life.”
God has a way of changing our plans. Something profound happens in our lives, expected or unexpected, and our lives can never be as before. Think about your wedding day, or the birth of a child. At that point our lives are changed forever, and we have new destinies.
We could be speaking of the Coronavirus pandemic. We will not be returning to “normal”. We may still have some familiar parts of our former lives, but we will not ever live the life we knew in 2019. The events of Winter and Spring, in the year of our Lord 2020, have changed our destinies. We do not know where this will lead us. We must learn to trust the Lord.
Let’s learn the lesson of Psalm 16.
“Lord, you will show us the path of life.”
None of us knows what our futures hold. The two disciples of Jesus walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus and their homes in the hill country of Judea believed that home was their destination. They did not arrive home that day.
Jesus was walking with them. They thought they had lost him three days prior. This was the same day as Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead, three days after his Crucifixion. They were grieving and mourning his death on the Cross. They did not recognize him while they were consumed by their shared grief. He was walking right beside them and teaching them to pay closer attention to the prophets. Beginning with Moses, he explained the scriptures from the Old Testament to show them that everything had been foretold. Still, they did not recognize him.
What is happening to us today? Perhaps we are grieving what our lives were before the Coronavirus. Deep down we are coming to understand that we cannot have that life back. Many of our community will not be able to return to their previous employment. So, what now? There will be many, many “ripple-effects”.
We are perhaps afraid; or confused; or conflicted because we don’t know how to prepare for the new future. They must have been experiencing something similar, since they had been his disciples before His Passion and Death. To believe and profess Jesus’ Resurrection would mean for them to encounter stiff opposition from their neighbors in Temple worship and social inter-action.
They were lost and confused on that road from Jerusalem. What did Jesus do to help them? He gave them the Holy Mass.
On that road, Jesus gave him His Words from the Old Testament. We always share His Word at every Mass.
Jesus then gave them his Body.
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, ….
We have been on that Road to Emmaus since the beginning of the quarantine in mid-March. But we have not missed Mass. Bishop Vasquez wrote on March 17,
“… the faithful are dispensed from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays … during this time…” Bishop Vasquez asked the faithful to make acts of spiritual devotion, such as spiritual communion.
At Sacred Heart Parish, we made a decision to not change our Mass schedule or our Confession schedule. We took Confession outside as a “drive-thru” opportunity.
We have been live-streaming the Mass at our regular Mass times on three platforms: The parish website, Facebook in English and Spanish, and YouTube. I heard of a parish family that dresses up the children to attend Mass in the living room when it is being live-streamed. They dress up like they were going to Sacred Heart Church to attend Mass, in front of the computer. What a beautiful example of Faith!
“Lord, you will show us the path of life.”
He has shown us the road forward. The way forward involves the Holy Eucharist. Whatever you do, stay on this road, the Sacramental Life. Remember what you need to do to prepare for eternal life:
- Don’t miss Mass
- Receive Holy Communion as often as possible
- Frequent confession: “When you fall off the bicycle” get up and get to confession. Get back on the bike!
We are preparing for the day when we will all be able to gather to celebrate Mass together again, and receive Holy Communion. Pray with me that day will soon arrive, and we can again recognize Him in His Word, and in the breaking of the bread.
Soon. Very soon, we will be back together celebrating the Holy Eucharist. Pray with me for that day. This is the “Path of Life”, and our destiny.