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OPENING  THE   SCRIPTURES 

FOR  YOU….. 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Opening the Scriptures for You….”

Today’s gospel - the story of the 2 disciples who were walking the 7 mile trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus - is a favorite gospel story for many. [Cf. Luke 24: 13-35]

The two  were followers of Jesus - but Jesus was arrested and killed - and it looked like their dream was over.  They were walking along talking and debating about Jesus - and without recognizing who he was -  a stranger on the road Jesus comes along and starts walking and talking along with them. He asks them what they were talking about - and they say, “Are you the only one who was in Jerusalem these past few days - and you don’t know what happened there?”

And Jesus says, “What sort of things?”

They blurted out to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene….” And they told the stranger - Jesus -  the whole story - how they hoped Jesus would redeem Israel.”

Then they tell this stranger about the rumors that there were reports that Jesus was alive - making appearances.

Susan R. Garrett

Then Jesus said to them, “Oh how foolish you are!”

Then Jesus told them all that was in the scriptures about himself.

Michael Torevell

They reached their destination and Jesus gave the impression he was continuing on the journey - but they urged Jesus, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”

They sat down at a table and Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them.

“With that,” the scriptures says, “their eyes were opened and they recognized him….”

Significant!  Significant!

It was then that Jesus vanished from their sight.

Then they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures for us.”

OPENING THE SCRIPTURES FOR US

In all your years of coming to church, who have been the preachers  who really opened up the scriptures for you?  Who were the preachers who opened up your tear ducts for you - when you were here at Mass?  Who have been the preachers  who helped you to see Jesus walking along with you in your life?

Wow, would I love to do that kind of preaching. 

I hope every preacher does.

Sorry.

Let me practice what I'm preaching. Sometimes - maybe 3 times since I’ve been here - something in a homily - something in the scriptures - hits me and there are tears. I don’t know if it hits anybody else.  And I have also looked out - from up here - at times - and it looks like something is hitting someone - and it looks like they are crying.

Church stuff - Jesus stuff - God stuff - hits all of us - hopefully down deep - inside - like that place we see in movies at times - behind and underneath a waterfall.  Back there…. In there …. underneath there.

And we preachers know - it’s not what we said, but it’s what the listener is talking to herself or himself  about - or what they are going through in their life at the time.

There was one priest in Brooklyn, who had a column in the Brooklyn Tablet, the Catholic newspaper, who wrote great columns on spirituality and the gospel. They would often get me thinking.  John Shea did that for me at times. He liked to retell the scriptures for the day in a modern story or retelling of the gospel for that day. I like to try that at times. [1]

I mention all this - because something like that hit these two disciples that evening - on their sad seven mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

MORE - IS THERE A SECRET FOR OPENING UP THE BIBLE?

There is a statement from the documents of the Second Vatican Council on the Liturgy that every priest and deacon has heard at least 10 times, “The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s Word.”  Then it continues, “In this way a more representative portion of the holy Scriptures will be read to the people over a set cycle of years.” [2]

That was stated in 1963 - and we have seen - better we have heard - much more of the Scriptures in the last 50 plus years.

I hope the homilies - and the sermons - have been better.

And the document on the Scriptures from that same Vatican Council - in  1965 - quotes St. Jerome, “For ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” [3]  His dates are 347-420, so he would have said that around 400 or so.

I hope - because of opening up of more of the Bible for us - has given all of us more knowledge of Jesus Christ.

I know I don’t preach enough on the first and second readings.

I also know Catholics certainly have opened up their Bibles and know the Bible a lot more because of the opening of new life for Catholics after the Second Vatican Council.

Before I was stationed here in St. Mary’s I worked out in Ohio - Pennsylvania - down South a bit - etc. etc. etc. preaching many, many parish missions and I noticed in many, many parishes, Bible study groups - like the one that takes place here.  Thank you Chris Cable and all those who do that. And I noticed that when Father Joe Krastel gave his talks on St. Paul - people showed up and sang his praises.

The founder of the Redemptorists, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, said, “The whole of our religion can be summed up in the practice of the love of Jesus Christ.”

THE SECRET

In My Fair Lady, there is a song line, “By George,  I think she got it.”

It's a great movie - showing us how far a person can come till she finally gets it.

Life is growth - and we grow by glimpses.

I think I got a glimpse of how to open up the scriptures - so we all can get to know Jesus Christ better. I want to do what Jesus did for these 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus.

For starters, the disciples recognized Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread.

At Mass we break bread.  At  Mass we break words.

It’s called a meal. We have 3 of them a day: breakfast, lunch and supper.

Okay it varies.

Jesus chose a meal, a supper, his last supper with his disciples, and during that meal, he did two things.  He broke bread and he broke words.

When we sit down to eat, we break bread and we break words.

How was your day.  Can you pass me the bread. Can you pour me some wine.

If we don’t eat with each other, we will not have communion with each other.

If we can’t stand each other, we will not talk and listen to each other.  We won’t be able to stomach each other. We will not get strength from each other.

We will avoid eating with each other.

When teenagers start breaking away from the family, they stop eating with the family. When families start falling apart, they stop eating with each other. They are no longer called a Mass - the Mass of people called the Smithtonian Family. People have to eat, but when they eat on the run, in fast food places, or when they are in communion with a TV or someone 15 or 150  miles away on a phone with them, they have dropped out of the little church called the Jonestonian Family. So too we see how people drop out of church. They start dropping out of the Meal called the Mass.

For starters that’s how to read and understand the Scriptures and get Christ and be in communion with him.

THREE MORE AND THEN CONCLUDE

Let me give 3 more ways to understand the scriptures.

First, the book of Genesis.  That’s the creation account and where we come from. Every human being has a creation account - where we started. Start talking to each other - inter generationally - where we come from and who the characters are - where the geography is, etc. Then look at Genesis the first book of the Bible. It tells about Roots. Read the Acts of the Apostles - our first reading for today. It tells us a good bit about how our church began.

Second, the books of the Prophets, who are our prophets. Who challenges us. Last night at Distinguished Alumni celebration of St. Mary’s High School, 4 people were honored. It was wonderful. All 4 told of their mentors, people who challenged them - to get them where they got to so far. Who are your mentors. Who has challenged you to get you to where you have gotten to. Then read the prophets.

Thirdly, Letters. what have been the letters of your life?  This might be disappearing with e-mail. But what have been the letters of your life. 

I love the story about my father writing love letters for 10 years from New York to Boston telling my mom he loved her and will you marry me. Finally the last letter worked with its message,  "If you don’t marry me, I will become an Irish Christian Brother." 

She wrote back, "Yes."

Thank God, otherwise I would not be standing here right now.  

What have been the significant letters that put you in your skin and your seat here today?  

Get that and you’ll get a bit of the letters in the Bible - especially why they saved the letters from St. Paul.

Enough.

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NOTES:

* Painting on top: Daniel Bonnell, Road to Emmaus

[1] John Shea, An Experience Named Spirit, The Thomas More Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1983

John Shea, Elijah at the Wedding Feast and Other Tales, Stories of the Human Spirit, Acta Publications, Chicago, Illionois, 1999

John Shea, Starlight, Beholding the Christmas Miracle All Year Long, Crossroad, New York, 1992

John Shea, The Spirit Master, The Thomas More Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1987

John Shea, Stories of God, Thomas More, A Division of Tabor, Allen, Texas, 1978, 1996

John Shea, Finding God Again, Spirituality for Adults, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, 2005

John Shea, Stories, Acta Publications, 2008

[2] Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), page 155 in The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J., Herder and Herder, Association  Press, 1966.

[3] Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, (Dei Verbi), page 127 in The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, S.J., Herder and Herder, Association Press, 1966.