My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.
As we gather around Our Lord, we ask him to help us penetrate these eternal words, “I am the Resurrection and the life.” He is life, he is the Resurrection. And what can that mean? Well, it has a multitude of meanings. One meaning, and we want to focus on that, that he is our renewal, he is our conversion.
And perhaps we could go back to his celebrated image of the kingdom which takes on many expressions and one is that of the seed, that life force of the seed. It's, I would say, a semi-intangible. I say “semi” since that lifeforce is intimately linked, joined with that seed. It accompanies that seed.
It's an energy running through that seed that gives it life and strength and transforms it and eventually, it produces more seed, it produces fruit. And that image of the seed looks upon both the divine dimension of conversion and human freedom. What's that divine dimension?
Well, that seed, keep it simple, is not inert, is not inanimate. But its life pulse is in suspension. It's potentially alive, which is different than a rock that is not potentially alive. And not only is it potentially alive, but potentially is a mature tree or vegetable or plant that has its own particular nature.
So, a tomato seed will not grow into a dandelion. And a corn won't grow into an eggplant vegetable. But what it needs is that grace that comes from the Resurrection, symbolized by light, symbolized by water, which gives new life, gives birth, gives life, gives refreshment, purifies.
And the light that just actualizes the seed and brings it to full maturity, and the actual necessary warmth or heat, another traditional image of the Holy Spirit and an image of the Resurrection And there is also the soil, the soil on its own produces nothing. And without the sunlight, without the water, without the heat, the best soil in the world produces nothing.
But nevertheless, that soil that is a symbol of desire, of freedom, is necessary. And there's limitless lights that radiate from the Resurrection. But let's reflect on, pray about, the most important part of our vocation to the Work. It's not the exclusive part but it’s the most important part.
Put candidly, my conversation with Jesus Christ, my union with God the Father, through Jesus Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit, my prayer life, as St. Josemaria teaches us, prayer must be very much in the first place. That the most important part of our apostolic efforts are determined by how much we pray, action very much in the third place.
What is the Resurrection teaching me? Yes, it's a mystery of faith. The crucified Jesus comes back to life and is glorified. And in a way we cannot ever fully comprehend in this life, that his glorification, his glorified body, is not an earthly body anymore. It is a body, and he has risen from the dead, in his humanity, but it transcends time and space.
And therefore, all of us can deal with him. And we see a bit of weaning away from seeing Jesus habitually in the last phase of the four gospels. Just to give it perspective, part one, his infancy, narrated in Matthew and Luke. Second phase, not much is written about that second phase, even though it embraces the majority of those spectacular years the Son of God made man spent here in this world: his hidden life, work, friendship, daily prayer, so ordinary that there's not much to say, and that's even recorded in the gospel.
He's just the son of the carpenter, or he is the carpenter depending on the gospel. And then those three years of miracle-working and of sermons, of teaching, interaction with individuals, less than 24 hours that included his passion, is another important part of the four gospels described and narrated in detail.
And the last part is about the Resurrection, the interaction of the resurrected Jesus with His Apostles and his disciples. And we see that he comes and goes, He's usually not around. And when he is around, which is also a bit of a mystery, they don't recognize him until he allows them to recognize him. He’s cooking breakfast for the Apostles as they are fishing.
And it's not crystal clear that they recognize him as the Lord. And they eventually do, obviously. And the most blatant lack of recognition is this very long walk to Emmaus from Jerusalem. I was fortunate enough to be on a bus from Jerusalem to the Saxum Conference Center, which is allegedly around that area.
They're not certain exactly where Emmaus is, but they know the general geographic area. And there's some traffic so it was about a half hour ride. And the Gospel says seven miles. And it wasn't a walk along a paved road, but hills, and rocks, and stones, and narrow pathway. And they're returning to their home village of Emmaus from Jerusalem, the nerve center of Redemption, of the Resurrection.
But they're completely overwhelmed. They're shattered. They're scandalized. They're in the throes of despair because this exciting adventure of following the Man-God has been a tragic failure. It couldn't have ended worsely. Here this hero, here this miracle worker, here this spellbinding speaker is reduced to a broken man that hardly looks human.
He's so physically torn apart, emotionally torn apart. And towards the end, he bellows out as much as he could under those conditions, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It's important to finish that psalm because it ends optimistically. And perhaps they felt that with all the good intention in the world, and the good intention of Jesus, they were deceived.
And they want to put together their lives if that's ever going to be possible back in their home village. And unbeknownst to them, as they're walking, a mysterious fellow traveler breaks in on their conversation. They converse with him. But this mysterious fellow traveler begins to ply them with questions that grab their attention and perhaps cause a bit of an irritation or make them indignant.
“That very day two of them were going to the village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. When they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.”
This is not just a historical narrative. You and I are those two disciples. Our Lord is walking with you and me. That's a very powerful, practical side of the Resurrection. Jesus lives. Jesus is alive. As St. Josemaria says, in his homily on the Resurrection found in Christ is passing by, Jesus is alive.
That's what gives meaning to my life, gives meaning to my faith, that resurrected Jesus whom I cannot see. But I can see him with my heart. But I can't see him directly. He walks with me. And He teaches His disciples that now we have to deal with Him, though we don't see Him.
We are encouraged and invited to deal with Him through the medium of faith: “I believe You're with me, Lord.” These two disciples of the Lord could’ve ignored the mysterious companion. But they engaged in conversation, they responded to him, and they began to speak to him. And what is Jesus doing? He is getting them to talk.
One of his first acts of the Resurrection is to get His disciples to talk with Him, to talk with Him, though He is invisible to them. He's telling us, you need to deal with me. I'm resurrected, though you cannot see me. That was the challenge after the Resurrection, to persuade the Apostles and the disciples, He is alive.
The relationship is different. You can't drive to His house. You can't make an appointment with Him. You can't knock on His door, but He’s alive. While they were talking and discussing together Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” What is Jesus saying to me? In your journey of life, amid your work, amid your recreation, amid your family life, amid your suffering, amid your silent periods during the day, amid your sleep, amid your sporting events, etc.
“I want you to talk to me. I want you to share your sentiments, your life. I want to be your traveling companion. I want you to recognize that I'm always with you. I want you to speak to me. I know what's going on, but I want a relationship with you. And as you speak to me,” as we see in this moving encounter,” little by little there's a transformation.
Perhaps our nondescript spiritual life becomes more Christ-like, that my life becomes more of Christ's life. All of us have that seed of Christ that is meant to grow with our individual personalities and character plusses and minuses. We are meant to become other Christs, and that is that process of conversion is generated and impelled by prayer.
“And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named clay apos answer. Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? Why are you speaking to us about this? You should know this. And he said to them, ‘What things?’” The Protagonist of those events is saying, “What's on your mind?”
And then we also see, and we need to always really mull over these words, and they come across so simply, and they are simple but very profound. Especially when we're uncertain, especially when sadness invades us, we should talk to him. Psalm 34 speaks about how we should deal with Christ. All the Psalms express sentiments of Christ even though they precede Jesus by a thousand years.
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them. The Lord is near the broken heart and saves the crushed in spirit. Many, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.”
Let's ask that question in the presence of the resurrected Jesus. How much do I speak to him? Do I go back to that fundamental part of my vocation, this calling to a contemplative life? And we want to live this contemplative life today, now.
Maybe we could give into wishful thinking that maybe someday when circumstances and situations are more ideal, I'll be able to focus more on my prayer life. I need to do that now. I have the grace to do it now. It's not a question of not having the time. Whether I'm very busy or not, He's next to me.
And I want to lift my mind and heart to him. And Jesus is, what is he doing? Well, he's getting them to speak. He could have walked with them in silence. He could have ceased to ask pertinent questions. And they start to open up.
“And he said, ‘What things? And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
We’re disappointed. We were excited about this. We were willing to give up all things and now we think this whole message, this promise of the kingdom, was a deceptive failure, an idealistic mindset on the part of this very spectacular person, Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.
And we can see that they refuse to believe in the Resurrection because they refer to the women disciples of Jesus who announced it. “Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body. And they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.”
“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see.” So, they did not believe in the Resurrection. And so, the mysterious person they're speaking to, they're unaware that he is the resurrected Jesus. And what happens? Well, they become enlightened.
They receive a special grace because of this conversation with him. Kind of harkens back to the first sorrowful mystery, where for the first time, Jesus gently commands His Apostles, “Watch and pray so that you may not enter into temptation,” the temptation of disbelieving in the power of the Cross that is very counterintuitive.
And so, what is this, one of the fruits of this protracted conversation on the way to Emmaus is an understanding of the Cross, the understanding of the power of the Cross, that the sorrow of Jesus' crucifixion and death has become a badge of honor. It's the mechanism of salvation. It is the hope of the world. We are saved.
And it has won the merits of forgiveness of all sin and has one for us the gift of grace that can transform everyone into another Christ. “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them, in all the Scripture, the things concerning himself.” When we first were in contact with Opus Dei, from the get-go, we were invited to pray.
And St. Josemaria had, throughout his life, I wouldn't say, you know, very frequently, but intermittently when the need arose, he would receive an extraordinary inspiration called a locution, where he would, I don't know how to put it, but he would hear with his mind and heart something out of Scripture that he didn't expect.
Towards the end of his life amid so much doctrinal confusion, moral laxity, and rejection of the basics of natural law, on and on and on, he received a locution that came from the prophet Isaiah. He received it in Latin. Pray without ceasing. What does the Resurrection mean? That I need to pray without ceasing.
That doesn’t mean I sit in Church without ceasing, but that I'm in his presence without ceasing. We take to heart words, on the occasion of the Resurrection of Jesus in Christ is passing by, in the homily, Christ's presence in Christians.
“So, our faith must be living, a faith which makes us really believe in God and keep up a continuous conversation with him. A Christian life should be one of constant prayer, trying to live in the presence of God from morning to night. And from night to morning. A Christian can never be a lonely woman or a lonely man, since he or she lives in continual contact with God who is both near us and in Heaven.”
Pray constantly, the Apostle tells us. Well, we conclude our prayer, having recourse to the Blessed Mother and we congratulate her on her Son's victory, on his Resurrection. And we see the glorification of her yes. And of her own very special suffering.
And she will tell us, we could take the liberty to put words in her mouth, “Pray without ceasing.” Speak to your son through me and I will amplify those prayers. Mary, help us draw that practical lesson of the Resurrection, that your Son always walks with us, though His direct presence is veiled from our eyes.
I thank you, my God, for the resolutions, affections, and inspirations you've communicated to me in this meditation. I ask your help in putting them into effect. My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel intercede for me.