He does not call from afar

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, .. Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ .. Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, .. Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! .. ’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them .. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’ They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.

Luke 24:13-35

He walks alongside us, prodding us to speak to him in prayer, to listen to him there, and in a particular way in the Bible. He goes further: he, the Word made flesh, feeds us in his very substance in the Eucharist, the sacrament where all of the Easter Triduum, from the upper room to the Cross, to the empty tomb -- is so pithily made present to us in Holy Communion.

To my sons who are distracted at Mass

.. from time to time at least, I must remind them that many who start out as Catholics later claim that they never got anything out of the Church. And I am reminded of this passage: We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn. (Mt 11:17). There is a first, perhaps a second reading, plus the Psalms and a Gospel reading at each Mass. The prayers in the Mass themselves are shot through with Scriptural passages, in addition to beautiful articulation of the faith from the Church Fathers and the saints. John 6 and the Last Supper come alive at the Eucharist, and the sacrifice in Calvary becomes present to us, and of course we are nourished with the Bread of Life. Even the chapel itself is an evangelization in colors, shades and depictions of our Christian heritage.

So, to my sons, and all who likewise find the Mass at times unbearably uneventful: could it be that sometimes at least, the Mass would be fruitful indeed if you were to pay a bit more attention to it? Lest you miss the miraculous: ecce homo, an ordinary carpenter, the Son of God just the same.