Emmaus Journey: A Vocation Perspective

Emmaus Journey: A Vocation Perspective

Emmaus is one of the famous Easter stories in the gospel of saint Luke. It opened a new perspective to my religious vocation when I read and reflected on it. I am sure that it may inspire you as well.

The story starts with two persons who are moving towards Emmaus from Jerusalem after having known that Jesus has risen and he is alive. Nevertheless they are depressed, dejected, stressed and confused about all the things that have happened and about their lives in Jerusalem as well. There was uncertainty. There was fear of death. They may be running away for life. We are not sure about it.

As religious and priests, we too start our vocation story moving from our home comforts to a long journey of Emmaus with all kinds of questions. We have anxiety about what our lives would be in future, what we do, where we live, how we live, why we live this kind of life. There is a kind of fear. There is an uncertainty in our lives. There is no assurance of any kind. Therefore our lives become like a confused journey of the two disciples to Emmaus.

Does it stop here? No. It is a journey. It cannot stop. It has to be continued so also the two disciples. They continued their journey. We continue our religious and priestly journey.

The two disciples talked about what happened in Jerusalem and what happened to Jesus of Nazareth. They reasoned too. We also reason out about our way of life. Do we get any conclusive answers. No. If it is so, we need to ask ourselves the question: why do we not get any conclusive answers? It is because we are on a journey.

There may be some twists and turns as the two disciples had the intervention of Jesus in their journey. So, we cannot say that Jesus comes in only one way but Jesus now becomes the omnipresent after his resurrection. That is what we feel happened with the two disciples. Their eyes were closed or not able to see the presence of anyone because they were in a confused state. It is visibly seen in this journey that they did not even ask who the person is or what his name is or where he is from. We, as religious and priests are busy with many things in our lives that we forget who Jesus is for us. It is a matter of concern and conscious for not knowing who Jesus is for us and our call, our lives, and our mission.

Not only we do not know who Jesus is for us but also we are busy in worldly matters and ways. Here comes the solution for all of us, that is to read the Word in order to understand the Word Incarnate. Jesus opened the two disciples mind and heart by revealing the Word to them from the Old Testament to the New Testament. It made them to think something differently from others.

This is noticeable when they say stay with us. There is already a change of heart. The two disciples felt that they have become close to the stranger because he loosened their heavy heart by listening to their anguish. Remember the commandment: love your neighbour. Who is my neighbour? The neighbour is the one who is in need. The two disciples were in need of someone to whom they could pour out their heavy burden. The risen Lord was there to give them peace of mind by reducing their pain.

The stranger was in need to stay not to move further in the night for the next twist of the journey, which came with a bang of the breaking of the bread. Jesus not only interpreted the Word but also illustrated it in action by breaking himself on the Cross. He breaks the Word and sacrifices his body for us everyday during the Eucharist.

Now, the two disciples opened their inner eyes and their hearts were already burning with the experience like that of the burning bush experience of Moses, calling them to liberate other disciples from their closed doors and fear of death in Jerusalem.

Here is an another experience of Calvary in the breaking of the bread. Now, they realised that it is Jesus, the risen Lord himself who accompanied them throughout their journey, interpreted the Word to them and broke the bread for them to sustain their fearful existence into faith journey. We too are invited to open our hearts to the risen Lord when we are troubled with our vocation crisis and questions about it. I am sure that the risen Lord will lead us as the Shepherd from the front when we are open on our knees. It is my experience. It may be your experience as well.