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Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Life Images: Once there was a young Chinese lad who went to the Master because he wanted to learn how to make jade into beautiful objects. So he went to the Master’s house, knocked on the door, and said he’d come to sit at his feet to learn. The Master took a piece of jade, put it into the boy’s hand, and sat there. He went on to chatter about his wife, his job, his children and things like that. All the while the boy was sitting there, minute after minute, hour after hour, holding the jade.
The next day the boy came back, and the same thing happened. The Master put a piece of jade in the boy’s hand, and the guy went off and talked about all kinds of things. The boy was getting somewhat discombobulated, but this was the Master, and he was very embarrassed or hesitant to say anything to him. This happened week after week, and one day the boy came, and the Master put a stone into his hand. The boy cried out and said, “Hey! This is a stone!” He had learned the feel of jade.
Life Dynamics: The moral of the story is if we keep on holding something valuable and beautiful, we’ll get the feel for it, and we will know the counterfeit when we see it. By the same token, if we keep holding a stone in our hand, when something beautiful comes, we will not recognize it, and we will destroy it.
Faith Stance: As followers of Christ we have been given something beautiful, in fact there is nothing more beautiful or precious than our faith and the love God has for us. What do we do to hold it in our hands and learn to recognize the beauty?
Faith Images: Today’s Gospel reading starts with the disciples returning from Emmaus and relating what had happened to them. Then Jesus appears in the midst of them and they do not recognize him. They think they are seeing a ghost. Why did not the disciples recognize the risen Lord? They did not recognize him because he did not fit their expectations. He did not meet their idea of who he should be or what he should look like. Luke wrote his gospel around the year 85 AD. This was fifty years after the death of Jesus. Therefore, not many people at that time had any connection to Jesus during his life. What Luke is trying to do is communicate the faith of those who had known Jesus or the apostles. The gospel is trying to teach us about and convince us of the importance of Jesus. Luke is trying to tell us that Jesus lived and then died. Then He rose from the dead and then ascended into heaven. But he still remains with us.
Implications: How do we compare to the disciple in that upper room when it comes to recognizing Jesus? Does our attitude in celebrating the liturgy and in coming forward to receive the Eucharist reflect our belief? Does our behavior after receiving the Eucharist indicate that we believe that Jesus is now with us, indeed, within us? Do we recognize Jesus under the signs of bread and wine? If we do not expect him to be present we will not recognize him. What a tragedy! What a loss!
Do we recognize Jesus in the words of scripture proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Word? What is proclaimed to us is not just history or ordinary words; what is proclaimed is God’s word. Do we recognize God through his word? If we do not expect God to be present, we will not recognize him. What a tragedy! What a loss!
Do we recognize Jesus in each other? When we gather together Jesus has promised to be present among us. That is his promise. If we do not expect Christ to be present in one another, in the community called family or Church, we will not recognize him. What a tragedy! What a loss!
Close: Jesus is the Master and is handing us the something very valuable and is there to talk with us and show us how to recognize the difference between our faith and the stones that are being given to us by the world.
If we do not recognize Jesus in the Eucharist or in the proclamation of His word or in the people around us, even our enemies then will God recognize us? What a tragedy! What a loss!
The next day the boy came back, and the same thing happened. The Master put a piece of jade in the boy’s hand, and the guy went off and talked about all kinds of things. The boy was getting somewhat discombobulated, but this was the Master, and he was very embarrassed or hesitant to say anything to him. This happened week after week, and one day the boy came, and the Master put a stone into his hand. The boy cried out and said, “Hey! This is a stone!” He had learned the feel of jade.
Life Dynamics: The moral of the story is if we keep on holding something valuable and beautiful, we’ll get the feel for it, and we will know the counterfeit when we see it. By the same token, if we keep holding a stone in our hand, when something beautiful comes, we will not recognize it, and we will destroy it.
Faith Stance: As followers of Christ we have been given something beautiful, in fact there is nothing more beautiful or precious than our faith and the love God has for us. What do we do to hold it in our hands and learn to recognize the beauty?
Faith Images: Today’s Gospel reading starts with the disciples returning from Emmaus and relating what had happened to them. Then Jesus appears in the midst of them and they do not recognize him. They think they are seeing a ghost. Why did not the disciples recognize the risen Lord? They did not recognize him because he did not fit their expectations. He did not meet their idea of who he should be or what he should look like. Luke wrote his gospel around the year 85 AD. This was fifty years after the death of Jesus. Therefore, not many people at that time had any connection to Jesus during his life. What Luke is trying to do is communicate the faith of those who had known Jesus or the apostles. The gospel is trying to teach us about and convince us of the importance of Jesus. Luke is trying to tell us that Jesus lived and then died. Then He rose from the dead and then ascended into heaven. But he still remains with us.
Implications: How do we compare to the disciple in that upper room when it comes to recognizing Jesus? Does our attitude in celebrating the liturgy and in coming forward to receive the Eucharist reflect our belief? Does our behavior after receiving the Eucharist indicate that we believe that Jesus is now with us, indeed, within us? Do we recognize Jesus under the signs of bread and wine? If we do not expect him to be present we will not recognize him. What a tragedy! What a loss!
Do we recognize Jesus in the words of scripture proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Word? What is proclaimed to us is not just history or ordinary words; what is proclaimed is God’s word. Do we recognize God through his word? If we do not expect God to be present, we will not recognize him. What a tragedy! What a loss!
Do we recognize Jesus in each other? When we gather together Jesus has promised to be present among us. That is his promise. If we do not expect Christ to be present in one another, in the community called family or Church, we will not recognize him. What a tragedy! What a loss!
Close: Jesus is the Master and is handing us the something very valuable and is there to talk with us and show us how to recognize the difference between our faith and the stones that are being given to us by the world.
If we do not recognize Jesus in the Eucharist or in the proclamation of His word or in the people around us, even our enemies then will God recognize us? What a tragedy! What a loss!