Experiencing the real Messiah can be one of our greatest challenges. Yet, nothing made Him more real than the ordinary things He shared with them as revealed in today’s gospel. He prepares food for them. He eats with them. He nourishes their hearts with care, reassurance, and healing as they begin to carry on His ministry after His death and resurrection. And as we come close to the culmination of this Lenten season, we are invited to answer, “Do I know the Lord, or do I just know about Him?”
Life is a courageous journey or nothing at all. The essence of being human is that we are in the end prepared to be broken up by life. Good days bring happiness, bad days give us experiences, and the worst days allow for lessons to be learned. It is an inevitable process in discovering who we are and coming to an understanding that most things in life happens for us, not to us. It paves a way for us to live from the heart and knowing that every day of freedom is an act of faith and trust. And this happens when we are willing to say, “Lord, I am invested here without any guarantee about what will happen.”
Finding beauty is living in a blessed world. However, it is truly up to us to open our hearts and receive His love. C.S. Lewis’ metaphor of knowing God’s presence in his life resonates with me most. He writes that he believes in God, “as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” And when we immerse ourselves in His words and apply it to our present situation, anxiety flees and helps us to connect His truths to what is actually happening in our life. We begin noticing the empty tombs and the many signs of God’s generous love and grace through our families, relationships, resources, gifts, abilities, and opportunities. Suddenly, we have gone from inference to real experiences with Jesus.
Lord, help me to live with a compassionate heart, gracious in awareness, courageous in thought, and generous in love.
Reflected by Tam Lontok
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