Presence

To be present is to arrive as one is and open up to the other.
At this instant, as I arrive here, God is present waiting for me.
God always arrives before me, desiring to connect with me
even more than my most intimate friend.
I take a moment and greet my loving God.

Freedom

Dear Lord, instil in my heart
the desire to know and love You more.
May I respond to Your will for my life.

Consciousness

Holy Spirit, fall afresh on me during this time of prayer. Through You, may I come to know that I am a beloved child of God.

The Word of God

¹³Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” ¹⁹He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” ²⁵Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Inspiration

This encounter of the two disciples with the risen Lord is a great example for our own prayer. The Christ we meet in our prayer is, of course, always the risen Lord, and in our encounters with him, we enter into a dialogue with him. Here, we see this dialogue at work as Jesus asks them what is troubling them, and then they answer, and he listens. Then, he answers them by speaking through the Scriptures, which are the Word of God. This experience sets their hearts on fire as we are told they said, ‘Were not our hearts burning while he talked to us on the road?’ We ask to learn how to listen to the Lord in our own dialogues with him.

The language of God in prayer is silence and love. In our listening, we attend with our hearts to his loving presence. As Fr Karl Rahner wrote, ‘He has veiled his love in the stillness of his silence, so that our love might reveal itself in faith.’

Conversation

How has God’s Word moved me?
Has it left me cold?
Has it consoled me or moved me to act in a new way?
I imagine Jesus standing or sitting beside me and
I turn and share my feelings with Him.

Conclusion

I thank God for His gift of love
as I go forth with joy and hope
to serve His people.

Amen