A reflection on the Gospel for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, from Fr O'Shaughnessy SDB (Image:Shutterstock)

Luke 24:13-35 Two disciples travelling to a village called Emmaus come to recognise our risen Lord in the breaking of the bread, as he opened the Scriptures to them

Our Gospel this Sunday is all about the need for ENCOUNTER: we need to to have a real encounter with the Risen Lord if we are going to have meaning in our lives. Encounter means that we really have to LISTEN to what the other is saying. I have been so blessed in ministry that I have shared the stories of so many people; in listening to their stories, inevitably I have had to share mine. It is not always easy as you have to let go and be vulnerable. It is much easier to live your life in the shade of a tree and just stay there in its shelter and perhaps smile at those who pass by. Jesus comes out from under the tree and walks with the two disciples on their way home. It is a real moment of ENCOUNTER when all three of them are prepared to listen and share from the very depths of their being. In teaching, and many of us have discovered our inner teacher in these days of lockdown, I firmly believe that the teacher needs to learn from the student-this is certainly the way encouraged by Don Bosco. Encounter not only involves learning, but NEEDS celebration and feasting; it is only in the context of of sitting around the table together that the disciples really see who the stranger actually is. At mass today and around your family table invite the Risen Lord to enter into meaningful dialogue with you and your loved ones. Share your family story especially with your children or grandchildren; in this way we can come out from under the trees that we choose to hide under.

Fr Gerry SDB