Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Sunday, 4 May 2014 - Catholic Meditations
Meditations: Luke 24:13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened. 15 While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?”
18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”
19 He said to them, “What things?”
They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb; 23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” 27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 They came near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.
29 They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”
He went in to stay with them. 30 When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave to them. 31 Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight. 32 They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 24:13 60 stadia = about 11 kilometers or about 7 miles.
3rd Sunday of Easter
Were not our hearts burning? (Luke 24:32)
Great writers have a knack for conveying deep, lasting truths in just a few words. This is the kind of artistry that we find in today’s Gospel. In telling the story of two people who meet the Lord on the road to Emmaus, St. Luke also tells us about the transforming power of the Mass.
Cleopas and another disciple were heading home sad because Jesus had been crucified (Luke 24:17-18). They still held out some hope because Mary Magdalene had told them about an empty tomb, but it doesn’t seem to have been enough for them. When Jesus met them on the road but concealed his identity, they shared their doubts with him. In response, he told them the story of salvation—and their hearts began to burn. Then at dinner, when Jesus blessed and broke the bread, “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (24:31). With their faith restored, the disciples turned around and hurried back to Jerusalem so that they could tell the others what had happened.
Over and over, we hear about people who have stopped going to Mass because they don’t feel that they get anything out of it. Often, however, this happens when the outer “form” of the Mass—the quality of the music, the appearance of the church, the various words and gestures of the liturgy—becomes more important than the inner “substance” of what is actually going on.
Form is when we say, “I confess.” Substance is our experience of God washing us clean. Form is the lector proclaiming the readings. Substance is God’s word coming alive in our hearts. Form is our act of receiving Communion. Substance is our openness to God and his power to fill our hearts. Substance moves us to change our lives and to share the good news about Jesus with our neighbors.
In short, form focuses more on what we do, but substance focuses on who we are meeting.
“Lord, let me see you at Mass today. May I never settle for less than everything that you want to give me!” Amen.
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know, 23 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed; 24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before my face,
For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced.
Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades,[a]
neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28 You made known to me the ways of life.
You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’[b]
29 “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades,[c] nor did his flesh see decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 2:27 or, Hell
b. Acts 2:28 Psalm 16:8-11
c. Acts 2:31 or, Hell
Psalms 16: A Poem by David.
1 Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
2 My soul, you have said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord.
Apart from you I have no good thing.”
5 Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup.
You made my lot secure.
7 I will bless Yahweh, who has given me counsel.
Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set Yahweh always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.
My body shall also dwell in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,[a]
neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life.
In your presence is fullness of joy.
In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 16:10 Sheol is the place of the dead.
1 Peter 1:17 If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear: 18 knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb, the blood of Christ; 20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of times for your sake, 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion:
(Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know, 23 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed; 24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before my face,
For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced.
Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades,[a]
neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28 You made known to me the ways of life.
You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’[b]
29 “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades,[c] nor did his flesh see decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 2:27 or, Hell
b. Acts 2:28 Psalm 16:8-11
c. Acts 2:31 or, Hell
Psalms 16: A Poem by David.
1 Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
2 My soul, you have said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord.
Apart from you I have no good thing.”
5 Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup.
You made my lot secure.
7 I will bless Yahweh, who has given me counsel.
Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set Yahweh always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.
My body shall also dwell in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,[a]
neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life.
In your presence is fullness of joy.
In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 16:10 Sheol is the place of the dead.
1 Peter 1:17 If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear: 18 knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb, the blood of Christ; 20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of times for your sake, 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
Luke 24:13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened. 15 While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?”
18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”
19 He said to them, “What things?”
They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb; 23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” 27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 They came near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.
29 They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”
He went in to stay with them. 30 When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave to them. 31 Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight. 32 They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 24:13 60 stadia = about 11 kilometers or about 7 miles.)
1. In the first reading from Acts, Peter gives a powerful proclamation of the Gospel message in such a way that the listeners are “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). Where did Peter, in spite of being an uneducated fisherman, get such a gift? (Hint: Peter gives the answer in Acts 2:33.) If we believe that we as baptized Catholics have the ability to proclaim the Gospel through the power of the Spirit that dwells in us, what keeps us from sharing it with others? How can you overcome some of these obstacles?
2. Notice in the responsorial psalm, how the psalmist keeps his mind and heart fixed on the Lord (“I set the Lord ever before me”) and the fruit of it (”with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed”). What steps can you take to turn to the Lord more often during the day, even in the midst of your busyness?
3. In the second reading from 1 Peter, we are reminded to “conduct yourself with reverence” because “you were ransomed from your futile conduct . . . with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:17-19). Do you believe that reflecting more on what Jesus accomplished by shedding his blood on the cross for you can impact how you live out your day? Why or why not? Any examples?
4. The Gospel reading describes the Emmaus Road encounter with Jesus by two of his disciples. Why do you think they did not recognize Jesus until “the breaking of bread” (an early Church term for the Eucharist)?
5. Are you willing to spend time just prior to the start of Mass reading and reflecting on the Mass readings? If not, why not? Perhaps if you do, like the Emmaus Road disciples, your heart will burn as the Scriptures are read and explained at Mass.
6. The meditation speaks of the outer “form” of the Mass and the inner “substance” of the Mass. How would you describe the difference between these? Why is it critical to not let the outer form become more important than the inner substance of the Mass?
7. Take some time now and pray that at Mass, you would experience more deeply God’s transforming power. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.
“Lord, let me see you at Mass today. May I never settle for less than everything that you want to give me!” Amen.
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