Dear parishioners and friends of our 3 Churches:
This Sunday the Gospel is the story of the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus.
We know how Jesus explained the scriptures to them, and how they recognised him in the breaking of bread, whereupon they rushed back to Jerusalem to share their experience of the Good News. But we mustn’t forget that even before he explained the Word to them he was already walking beside them, even though they didn’t recognise him. That’s surely a bit like how it is now. Sadly we cannot truly meet one another, either for the sharing of the word or the breaking of bread. However, that should not blind us to his presence already with us. As we walk along the road, not of the streets outside but of life itself, and whether we realise it or not, Jesus walks with us. When this is over, let’s not find ourselves saying “Did not our hearts burn within us”, as the disciples did when they understood that he had been with them all along. Rather, let’s seek him now, maybe in new ways – in the pain of separation or aloneness too.
Fr Matthew
