The Way to Life – Easter Study 20094

EmmausThe AscensionPentecost

Text Notes

10Emmaus– Luke24:13, 28-31

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ow on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him... As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went into stay with them. When hewas at the table with them, hetook bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, anti they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

We use the name of Jesus ceaselessly in prayer, we read the gospels, we talk about him. The very name of “Jesus” has become a swear word through profanity. All this has dulled our expectations. So when we seehim among us, there is a momentary surprise.We glimpse Christ in different ways. Sometimes we glimpse him inthe lives of believers. The moment of recognition at Emmaus comes during the breaking of the bread. It is this action that identifies Jesus to the two disciples. We are meant to understand that this was a characteristic gesture of Jesus. What he had done before with them, he is doing once again. It points us to the Eucharist. The bread of the Eucharist brings us the real presence of Christ.Christ is with us as grace, but he is not with us like some possession to be greedily grasped. Rather, he is the bread of life because he is bread for life, encouraging us to go out and continue his presence in the world by the quality of our own living.

We adore you and praise you, O Risen Lord

Because by your death and resurrection you give life to the world.

If weknew how often you draw close to us,

then our hearts would burn within us,

for you are with us still,

and you journey alongside us.

Lord, in our journey through life,

encourage us by the breaking of the bread.

Let this mystery draw us into a communion

of life andlove

with you, the risen Lord.

11The Ascension–Luke24:50-53

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he risen Christ led the disciples out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, lit,blessed them. While he was blessing them, lit,withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. Andthey worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great Joy; and they were continually inthe Temple praising God.

In everyday English, heaven can mean two things.

It can mean the place of eternal happiness in the direct presence of God. Or it can mean the sky, as when we say, “The heavens opened, and it poured down.” Both come together in the ascension of Christ. His earthly mission completed, he returns to the eternity from which he came. But he does not desert humankind. Rather, his presence is to be found everywhere and at all times, just like the sky surrounding the earth.

Now that he is in eternity, he is close to all who call upon his name, to all who seek him, and to all who are inspired by him. The ascension is therefore not a symbol of the departure of Christ, itis, rather, a sign of the presence of Christ. There is no place that is without Christ, just as there is no time that is without him.

This icon conveys that blessing not with a lifted right arm, but with both arms of Jesus extending down toward the world and all its peoples as he is borne away. These outstretched arms are a symbol of his love for the world, a love that continues unbroken from eternity. Christ stretches both arms over the earth beneath him in an abundant gesture of blessing.

At the same time, those arms reach toward us. For Christ in eternity continues to reach toward us, especially through his mystical body, the Church. Hereaches out to us in the sacraments, in the gospels,and in the lives of men and women who are examples of Christian living.

We adore you and praise you, O Risen Lord

Because by your death and resurrection you give life to the world.

Let your blessing be upon us, Lord.

Reach out to us today in blessing, that we may be fruitful.

We speak of lifting up our hearts, because the joy of faith

increases our vision and enlarges our hopes.

Draw our hearts and minds upward,

so that even in the busyness of our everyday life,

we may aim higher, and seek your inspiration.

12Pentecost – John16:13-14

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esus said: “When the Spirit of truth conics, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he, hears, and he will declare to you the things that art, to come. Hewill glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

This icon depicts Pentecost, but not as a onetime-only event in the past. Rather, it helps us to understand Pentecost as a process continuing through all ages and countries, as the Spirit of God moves over the world.

The Spirit is depicted as an orb, like the sun, its rays reaching down toward Mary and the apostles. As the Spirit flickers toward them, we notice that its symbolic rays are colored green, a reminder that fruitfulness is one of the gifts of the Spirit.

It is the Spirit also who drives the Church outward, making us evangelists. If we believe in God, we cannot stand still. We must give an account of the hope that is in us. The fruits of this are seen in the figure of the king emerging out of darkness. We know that in historymissionaries often converted kings first, because this would encourage their followers to come after them. So the king represents the achievement of the Church in bringing the gospel to the pagan world.

The king has heard the good news of Christ risen from the dead; hence he carries in his hand white garments. These garments remind us of Christ, set free from the tomb, just like the king who emerges out of darkness. But the white garments are also a symbol of baptismal robes, baptism setting the seal on our Christian commitment and joining us to the mystical body of Christ, the Church. Around the tomb the apostles and Mary give their affirmation. Some of the disciples are robed in red, because in the history of the Church in virtually every age, there have been men and women who have paid for their faith with their lives.

We adore you and praise you, O Risen Lord

Because by your death and resurrection you give life to the world.

We are one people,

drawn from many nations.

Holy Spirit,

go-between God,

weave your people ever more closely together so that our faith in action

and the joy of our worship

may draw others to know you.

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