For this Sunday, third week of Easter, we have the Emmaus story by St. Luke.  On the Sunday of the Resurrection two disciples of Jesus were going from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were weighed down with worries, since they had heard about the angel’s announcement that Jesus was alive, but still had doubts about the resurrection. So immersed were they in their own sadness that they were unable to recognize the risen Jesus in the person walking alongside them.

The Crucified and Risen Lord comes to meet us on our daily path, to restore joy to our heart when we need it. “The road to Emmaus thus becomes a symbol of our journey of faith: the Scriptures and the Eucharist are the indispensable elements for encountering the Lord. We too often go to Sunday Mass with our worries, difficulties, and disappointments.... Life sometimes wounds us, and we go away feeling sad, towards our ‘Emmaus,’ turning our backs on God’s plan. We distance ourselves from God. But the Liturgy of the Word welcomes us: Jesus explains the Scriptures to us and rekindles in our hearts the warmth of faith and hope, and in Communion he gives us strength. The Word of God, the Eucharist. Let us make it a habit to read a passage from the Bible every day, and on Sundays go to Communion, to receive Jesus. This is what happened to the disciples of Emmaus: they received the Word; they shared the breaking of bread and from feeling sad and defeated they became joyful. 

Benedict XVI said in a general audience, citing words of Saint Jerome: “‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.’ It is therefore important that every Christian live in contact and in personal dialogue with the Word of God given to us in Sacred Scripture … The privileged place for reading and listening to the Word of God is the liturgy, in which, celebrating the Word and making Christ’s Body present in the Sacrament, we actualize the Word in our lives and make it present among us.”

On April 20, 2023, Thursday 40 children from our parish were conferred with the sacrament of Confirmation by the Archbishop, His Grace Michael Miller OSB. We congratulate all the children and their parents and assure them of our prayers. May the Risen Lord bless and inspire all of them to listen to the Word of God and partake in the Eucharist every Sunday, that their lives too may become joyful like that of the disciples on their way from Emmaus to Jerusalem.  We also thank the principal, teachers, and staff of St. Mary’s school and our PREP teachers for preparing the children to receive the sacrament of Confirmation and for organising a meaningful liturgy.