“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11
The road to Emmaus tells us a story close to our own times: two followers of Christ, whose lives were dedicated to the message of salvation, despair in their loss of hope, which they saw die on a cross. “In these times, people are yearning for a principle in life that inspires hope, a hope which will permit them to look to the future with eyes filled with faith and not the tears of despair” (Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod of Bishops on "the New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith," 166). What has occurred in Ireland, and elsewhere in our world, is a crisis of Faith due to the severe upheavals in society that have shaken the world in recent decades. The culture of death has in its grasps the hearts of countries that once burned bright. Ireland’s monastic tradition truly saved Western civilization in the Middle Ages by their perseverance in scholastic labors and passionate missionary efforts. The once great stronghold of Catholicism today resembles more the ruins of its ancient monasteries: reduced in some places to its foundations, a vestige of its former glory. What both the disciples on the road to Emmaus and many Irish people have forgotten is the promise of salvation that Christ gives us, the promise of the resplendent glory of His Church and the supreme beatitude of her sons and daughters.
As members of Christ’s Church, we are obliged to invite all people to that same communion with Christ our savior who gives Himself to us, to recognize Him in “the breaking of the Bread.” In the Church, and most evidently in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ’s life is poured out on His people to cleanse them of sins and adopt them as sons and daughters of the King. Blessed Pope John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis have been calling for a "New Evangelization." The essence of this movement is a demand by the Church for a commitment to the Gospel duties of our Baptism and Confirmation. This invitation- this vocation- is for all Christians to go out and to spread the Good News of our salvation. He sends us not just to those who have never heard the Gospel, but also to God's already adopted children who have wandered from His verdant pastures.
As members of Christ’s Church, we are obliged to invite all people to that same communion with Christ our savior who gives Himself to us, to recognize Him in “the breaking of the Bread.” In the Church, and most evidently in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ’s life is poured out on His people to cleanse them of sins and adopt them as sons and daughters of the King. Blessed Pope John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis have been calling for a "New Evangelization." The essence of this movement is a demand by the Church for a commitment to the Gospel duties of our Baptism and Confirmation. This invitation- this vocation- is for all Christians to go out and to spread the Good News of our salvation. He sends us not just to those who have never heard the Gospel, but also to God's already adopted children who have wandered from His verdant pastures.