Christ is risen, Alleluia. He is risen indeed, Alleluia.
And He is walking with us on this journey.
Some of the saddest words in the whole of the scripture, “we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel”(Luke 21). The heartbreak of those disciples – that couple could well have been a man and a woman – these disciples on their way back home [to Emmaus]. After all of their hopes seemed to be crushed, the world seemed to be completely empty and a place of failure, walking alone in this world, hopeless.
That kind of experience is not uncommon for many of us, whether we know it or not. Especially those who do not know because they do not know the scriptures, and they have not been to the Breaking of the Bread, that there is hope within us.
You know, I think it’s time for us at the schools not to have Easter week off. It’s a dumb idea, because then everyone goes on holiday, and no one goes to church. And that includes the teachers and the students. The high holy days, which used to be taken off so that people could celebrate it, are now taken off so people can go and do other things, right? And thereby go walking without knowing Who is walking with them.
This is the sadness that grips so many of our brothers and sisters in the faith, even those who are leaders in the faith. They’re our children, the children of the Boomer and the next generations, and these folks really have been shaped by us, we who have made other voices equal with Jesus, who are as stuck as these two disciples were – seeing Him just as a prophet, great in word.
Jesus is not just a prophet. [That is the error of the Muslim] The Muslims say, ‘well, we treat Jesus as a prophet too. Yeah, the second last one before the great one arrives [Muhammed].’
No, Jesus is not a prophet. Jesus is the Son of God, the God-Man who has risen and walks among us. And the place that you recognize Him is in the Breaking of the Bread. No going to mass, no recognizing Jesus. That simple.
Oh, but we say ‘there are all these other kinds of Christians that are around [who do not go to Mass]. Yes, and look at the foolishness that’s flooding around us. Christian Zionism, this American heresy of Protestantism that takes the Lord’s Resurrection and turns it into a political movement. But don’t let us get all self-righteous about that, because then there are the Christians of Canada who see Jesus and Tradition, operating from “the tradition that formed us”, as one more thing to sort of be secondary compared to all the social justice and rights and human rights. [So] we think these are the most important things, that we can solve all the problems of the world by education for these things. Hence, the Canadian arrogance that ‘you don’t need Jesus walking with you’. You just need good policies. I always remember that the most educated nation in the history of the world in 1939 was Germany. Education without Jesus is hell.
So here is the Lord calling us to not be in the grips of the sadness. “We had hoped”, but now we are empty. Instead, he says to us this morning and through us,
‘Oh, “do not be so foolish”. Why do you think that you’re smarter than everybody else that’s around you? Open the scriptures. Let me share it with you. Come to the banquet. Let me give you the gift that will open your eyes’.
It’s easy to blame those who have been produced by our lack of fidelity. It’s easy to see a generation of students and teachers and leaders who do not know the Lord and point our fingers at them. No, it is to us to stand up and with the right words that move hearts in the way of joy to say to these generations, come with me. Come walk with me because the journey is not hopeless.
Jesus is hope. Jesus is here. Jesus is the word of life.
Jesus is the bread that gives us the strength to really bring fullness of life to those who are around us.
In this building and in this very place right here was founded Catholic schools in Saskatoon. This is the foundation place because the foundation place is the mission of St. Paul. It’s the mission of St. Paul’s successors.
So let us pray today for God’s grace that we might creatively respond in walking with the good news, in not being foolish and sad, but rather having our eyes opened to the Resurrection of Jesus who gives us Life and Grace now and forever.
Let us be holy. Let us be saints.
Notes powered by CraftNote