I AM REMINDED

Gospel
26 April 2009
Third Sunday of Easter
Lk 24:35-48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,
and how Jesus was made known to them
in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”

***

A decade ago when I was discerning things in my life, I was so confused with what was happening to me. No one seemed able to help me with my dilemma. You see problems began coming during the time that I practically lived inside the adoration chapel. I prayed a lot in front of the blessed sacrament, up to four consecutive hours just staring at the magnificence of the Eucharist and basking myself in the glory of the almighty God. I was never bored nor restless. It was as if every time I entered that chapel, time ceased to exist.

One morning, coming out from my class, I went straight to mass and after that, I spent hours of reflection and meditation in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It was the only place that gave me comfort at that time, let alone the place where I was able to divulge everything, including the deepest secrets of my heart. As I got deeper and deeper in prayer, tears began to flow from my eyes. Everything felt so comfortable. For the first time in my life, I literally felt that a boulder have just been lifted up from my shoulder.

Days after that prayer, everything became clear. I fully understood everything that was happening to me. It was such a revelation that even the tiniest questions that I have been trivially asking myself were answered.

This experience reminded me so much about this Sunday’s Gospel, about how two disciples were able to see Jesus during the breaking of the bread and how they were able to understand the scriptures. It only takes one hour every week to experience what the two disciples experienced. And sometimes even that, I take for granted.

For one hour every week we have an opportunity to be reminded, that Jesus is ever present in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, body and blood, ready to listen and break bread with us and make us understand, that he is always there, silently waiting for us.

May we all grasp the meaning of Christ’s Resurrection in all spheres of human experience.

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