burn! 3 & 4

“A personal pursuit after a people He loves…” (Mark Batterson) that is the story of our Salvation! Our faith in God, our gift of the Church is all about a relationship, not a task list, not boxes to be checked.* It is like the story of the two followers of Christ on the road to Emmaus: “Jesus himself drew near and walked with them…” He does the same for us moment by moment each and every day. It is only we who are sometimes missing!

How do you spend time with Him--how do you enjoy Jesus most? Do you meet with Him daily? Walk with Him in the park? Have a cup of tea with Him? Open His word? Enjoy Him in nature? With others? We see in the Gospels that when these two men from Emmaus realized that it was Jesus they were speaking to, they exclaimed: “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

Being with Jesus changes everything!

Living moment by moment with Him gives us hope and peace and purpose. Our hearts burn when we hear His truth spoken, for we know His words contain the power of life! Don’t be like Peter, who at our Lord’s passion, followed at a distance only to end up denying Christ. Being close to Him, walking and conversing with Him is what creates the deep and abiding relationship our souls so long for.

Find your favorite story of Jesus and read it often (St. Mark’s Gospel is a good book to start with). Your favorite Scripture, will become the script of your life if you renew your mind to it’s truth daily. Don’t miss a minute of the blessing of being able to walk with God...and then to share the love with those you meet along your path.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8

Join us now as we walk with Jesus from the Resurrection to Pentecost in the Via Lucis!

THIRD STATION

The Risen Lord Appears to Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles

All:We adore You, O Christ and we praise You!

Because by the Wood of the Cross and the Light of the Resurrection,

You have redeemed the world!

Reading:"She turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?' She thought He was the gardener and said to Him, 'Sir, if you carried Him away, tell me where you laid Him, and I will take Him.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, 'Rabbouni,' which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, 'Stop holding on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them, 'I am going to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.' Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord,' and what He told her" (John 20: 14b-18).

Reflection: In the fourth gospel, Mary Magdalen is given the mission to carry the good news of the resurrection to the apostles and the disciples. Mary had been in the company of Jesus and His followers, and is given the privilege to announce the hope of new life. She is known over the centuries as "the apostle to the Apostles." Jesus called her by name, gave her the eyes of faith, and called her to give a unique personal witness to her friends in the faith community.

Prayer: God our Father, You will that all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of Your truth. Send workers into Your great harvest that the Gospel may be preached to every creature. May Your people, gathered together by the word of life and strengthened by the power of the sacraments, advance in the way of salvation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

All:Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Not Magdalen, not Salome,

Nor James' own mother then delay

Embalming Jesus' corpse that day. Alleluia.

FOURTH STATION

The Risen Lord Appears on the Road to Emmaus

All:We adore You, O Christ and we praise You!

Because by the Wood of the Cross and the Light of the Resurrection,

You have redeemed the world!

Reading:"...It happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.... And He said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the scriptures" (Luke 24: 15, 25-27).

Reflection: The Emmaus road is the story of the Christian life. These disciples were walking away from Jerusalem and the apostolic faith community in defeat and dejection. They had lost hope. We too, have moments of despair and desolation. The Risen Lord Jesus accompanies us along the road, even when we are moving in the wrong direction. Only the Lord can "break open" the Word in order to help us understand the stories of our lives, especially suffering, and read them in harmony with the pattern of the Scriptures. Only the Lord can rekindle our energy and our resolve to devote ourselves to what is most important in life.

Prayer: Lord God, as disciples on our pilgrimage, we implore Jesus Christ: stay with us, Lord. Open our hearts to true conversion and, as we have known the Lord in the breaking of the bread, so make us witnesses of a new humanity, renewed, reconciled and at peace in Your love. Send us as heralds of the repentance and forgiveness You offer to all in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with You, forever and ever. Amen.

All: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

That night the apostles met in fear;

Amidst them came the Lord most dear,

And said My peace be on all here. Alleluia.

*Pope Francis, the Catholic Church and I want to hear from you! :) It’s not about checking boxes! It is about relationship and conversation! Whether you are CATHOLIC or PROTESTANT we need your feedback! By God’s grace, I have been chosen by the Archdiocese of Washington to go to the USCCB Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Florida in July! Please be a part of this conversation! Go to: www.sharewithFrancis.org. and share with us your thoughts. Thank you and please pray for us!