all of the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
Suddenly they were able to see with new eyes. They had a new attitude and
wanted to understand. And now so it can be for us when we read the Word. It
takes a sincere desire to know divine truth for its own sake for us to be open to
being taught by the Lord. That is our walk to Emmaus.
After the Lord had taught them and was gone from their sight, they
marveled: “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the
road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Ibid. 24:32)
We know that all of the Word teaches love of the Lord and love of the
neighbor. It is that simple. And it is that profound. From this springs the life
of charity – the life of religion: to be kind and useful in our lives. From this
springs trust in the Lord – His love and His providence – that we can “walk
through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil,” because He is
always with us. That is the love to be burning within us.
And so we have a kinship with these two disciples wandering somewhat
aimlessly on the Road to Emmaus. They knew where they were headed but not
really where they were going. Surely at times we resonate with their emptiness
and frustration, their doubt and confusion, their lack of direction. The Lord
came to them as He comes to us, to put aside our foolish ways and to find our
goal in life – by following Him.
(BMH)
‘what’s wrong with it’
Popular culture today places little value on protecting the innocence of
children, and modern communication makes them aware of many disorderly
things which they are not able to understand or judge rightly.
Moreover, the media (including the extremely influential social media)
routinely portray disorder in an unrealistic light as normal, benign, and even
something to celebrate. The oppressive and morally skewed culture of political
correctness is pervasive, and the sad and painful consequences of the “new
morality” are either ignored or made out to be the fault of an uncaring society.
Let’s face it: our children’s minds are being formed in a toxic spiritual
environment, opposed, in some important respects at least, to the order of
heaven. They have much more in the way of factual information about subjects
formerly considered delicate and private than previous generations of children
had, but less in the way of a commonly accepted moral framework within
which such subjects should be considered.
The Lord, in His providence and by means of His Word, and by means of
the Church when it is true to the Word, works to place a spiritual shield around
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