Silence is the “language of God”….And in the silence God will speak to you in a language only you will understand…And then you will “see”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel from St Luke the story of the two men who encounter Jesus on the road to Emmaus…There is so much in this Gospel reading to unpack….These two men were clearly believers in God…We would call them today “good guys”….They clearly recognized that Jesus came from God, spoke the Truth and did good things while we was alive…However, with all that being said notice when Christ walked next to them on the road......They did not recognize him…..”Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him”……Again, the theme of sight is brought to our attention in Holy Scripture…..Why couldn’t these “good men” see who was walking next to them?……This is the question we must ask ourselves today…....What prevents us from “seeing” and also “hearing” God?….Do we take the words of Jesus seriously?…..Interestingly enough, as Jesus walked with these guys on the road, they stopped to get something to eat and it was not until Jesus “broke the bread” that their eyes were open….”And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him”…...This was the turning point for these guys and it is also the turning point for the faithful today….Until we recognize Jesus fully present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament in many ways, like these two men on the road to Emmaus we too are blind….Once a Christian grasps this mystery, everything changes - Everything!…We must seek to understand deep within our heart just how present Jesus is today in the Consecrated Host.

“He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations-- Which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac.”

The Church teaches us that in order to receive the Blessed Sacrament, one must be in the state of grace…What does that mean?…That means all of our mortal sins have been confessed to a priest Sacramentally. Why is this important?…For many reasons, but for the purposes of this reflection, it’s important because if we receive the Blessed Sacrament outside of the state of grace, God’s Holy Spirit does not penetrate our soul….This is why someone can say that they have been going to Church for 40 years and they “get nothing out of it”….The “game changer” is when we receive the Eucharist in the state of grace!……..Before I was married, every Saturday I would volunteer at an AIDS hospice in Lower Manhattan run by Mother Teresa's sisters….The men who were staying there had acquired AIDS by every means one can imagine…Needless to say, not all of them were Catholic and if they were, most of them were not in the state of grace…Therefore at Mass every morning, while all the guys attended, they did not receive the Blessed Sacrament….In the afternoons starting at 2:00pm, the sisters had a Holy Hour for themselves and the men in the hospice…..This is where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed on the altar in the chapel for one hour and we would all sit in front of Jesus in silence…Why is this important?…This is where grace would “seep” into the men…During this quiet time before Christ in the Consecrated Host, the men, whether they realized it or not would begin to encounter grace….And in time, believe it or not, most of these guys, who by the way lead absolutely crazy lives, some would request to be baptized….Why bring this up?….If you do not believe that Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament…Or you are reluctant to go to a Priest and participate in a Sacramental Confession…Make some time each week and sit in silence before the exposed Blessed Sacrament….During that time…God will speak to you in a “language you understand”…And in time…… Like the two men on the road to Emmaus, and the men in the AIDS hospice in New York City......Your eyes will open and you will “see”!

“Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!”

Today at Mass we hear the story about two good guys who on the road met Jesus Christ…While there is no dispute about the fact that these guys believed in God, there was something clearly missing….And they discovered what was missing in the “breaking of the bread”…..We too must discover what is missing within our own hearts….Do we see Jesus fully present in the Blessed Sacrament? And if we do not, what are we doing to remedy this situation?…..The encounter with Christ on the road to Emmaus is symbolic of many today who still do not fully see God but thirst too…..A heart which is true and sincerely desires God will always find him - Remember that!….This is why we need to make room for silence in our life….Silence is the “language of God”….And in the silence God will speak to you in a language only you will understand…And then you will “see”