Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 30 April 2017

Duccio di Buoninsegn Emaus.

Third Sunday of Easter

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. (Lk 24:29)

I’ve been doing Theology for over 43 years, lived it in various ways of life, studied aspects of it continually, taught it for a long time too, but I often ask myself; has it made me any wiser in the things of God? I have to answer a cautious ‘yes’ because my understanding of God at work in our world has been helped by aspects of my theological work, which is to seek truth and help others interpret and understand the communication of God with us all in scripture, liturgy and practice.

Luke’s account of the Emmaus journey is not only one of the best-known post-resurrection stories in the Gospels, but one that has helped many people. For me it pulls together my intellectual journey in faith and that of the ‘heart and soul’ the dimension where we encounter God as a loving relationship, sparked by the Spirit and lived in Christ. The great Benedictine Saint, Anselm’s motto, “faith seeking understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum) is just what we can find in the story.

How? Let’s put ourselves in the place of the disciples, we are on a journey, we too can be very downcast and depressed by what goes on in the Church or what people do in God or Christ’s name! But, in our personal life, we can also feel let down, abandoned by God, wondering if our faith is built on truth or something else. Some powerful voices in modern society would tell us its all a myth, a story, and yet, we struggle on like those disciples.

Into our lives, as in theirs, the gift of the Spirit comes, companionship of others often shines a light on Gods presence and the Scriptures, particularly when they are explained to us , can open our minds and hearts to something alive, the Word that is Christ himself! So it was for those disciples, their hearts ‘burnt’ within them as they began (perhaps for the very first time), to make connections and understand just what the Scriptures meant, to journey on, seeking God’s love

We like them, can glimpse Jesus with us on our journey, feel the wind and breath of the Spirit with us, in us, and yes, begin to love the unseen God. How? Through those simple sacramental acts like the ‘breaking of the bread’, which Jesus has commanded us to do in remembrance of him. May our Easter journey be the prayer of the disciples, ‘stay with us Lord’ Amen!

Fr Robin is an Eastern Rite Catholic Chaplain for Melkites in the UK. He is also an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church, Oxford