Today's gospel reading offers the picture of "journey" once again. Perhaps a reminder that we are always on a journey, every day of our lives coming closer to the God who made us, the Jesus who teaches us and the Spirit who enlightens our minds and hearts.Two Jesus-devotees had put all their eggs into one basket: "we were hoping he would be the one to redeem Israel." Yet, if we pull back the cover of familiarity that protects us from the raw pain they were enduring, we might find similar moments in our lives. These disciples are walking through the emptiness, the fright, of change. They are experiencing the fear that naturally walks into life when there is an experience of loss ... especially the loss of a dear person, of the work that has given purpose to life or even of good health.
However, the two downcast followers have not given up. Obviously they are moving onward ... perhaps with neither plan nor much hope. Into their lives , into the openness of their journey at this particular moment enter another traveler, another man seemingly someone "their eyes were prevented from recognizing...." Again, we know the rest of the story, don't we?
It is a faith-modeling story. We should not forget Jesus was a preacher, a teacher who stressed the importance of faith. Didn't he say in so many ways and different times that just a dose, a speck, of faith could move mountains? As Jesus, the professor, was recounting the words of the prophets and retreaching why "the Christ should suffer these things," they cam to experience, perhaps again, the excitement, the hope that made them "children of the light" (Jn 12:36).
So, too, for anyone suffering any kind of loss: a speck of faith mixed with an ounce of trust will become the shield that will safeguard against the pain of loss, the emptiness of change. We might also recall the words of Jesus found in Matthew's gospel: "Everyone then who who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be life a wise man who built his house on rock." As Deepak Chopra points out the house that Jesus is speaking about is one's very self that is firmly established on an openness or awareness of Jesus walking with us on our journey. Difficult days of our travels will become moments of inner peace because we believe that Jesus walks with us just as he walked with Cleopas and his friend. Perhaps the gospel writers did not tell us who the friend was ... because, just by chance, it could be YOU!
