When you walk through a storm keep your head held high and don't be afraid of the dark. At the end of the storm is a golden sky and the sweet silver song of a lark. Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain, tho' your dreams be tossed and blown. Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart and you'll never walk alone, you'll never walk alone.
I needed to remember these lyrics Saturday morning as I trust we all made it through the storms just fine, and for those impacted, we indeed pray. I also found these lyrics so inspirational every Labor Day, as Jerry Lewis would sing them at the end of every MDA Telethon.
But as people of faith, we are called to walk on with the Risen Jesus, who is the hope in our heart.
Today's Gospel comes from St. Luke which relates the last of the post resurrection appearances of Jesus to his closest followers. When he came to them Jesus made sure he was fully present, presenting Himself in ways that could never be confused with a ghost or a spirit. Jesus, even after the Resurrection, continued to come to His followers, continued to walk with them, continued to bring them hope, the hope that grows in the heart. They were able to fully experience the very real presence of Jesus.
It's 2,000+ years later, and we, followers of Christ too, are able to fully experience the very real presence of Jesus. In each and every Mass, His body is present, blessed, broken and given to us. His blood is poured out for us. This is not something imagined, this is not something that exists in our thoughts only, no, in a very physical, tangible way, Jesus comes to us and continues to walk with us, in His Real Presence in the Eucharist.
In this very Gospel, and evident in the other readings today, is the forgiveness of sins. Christ is truly present in the Eucharist yes, but we can say Christ is truly present in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. While we go to confession to a Priest, it is in the person of Christ, through the Priest, that we are forgiven our sins. For this reason the Priest does not say Jesus forgives your sins, no, the Priest says I absolve you of your sins. Why? Because Jesus is really present in that moment in our Priests, persona Chrsiti Capitas, in the person of Christ the Head!
This incredible Gospel today should remind us of the powerful truth of the love of Christ still coming to us and walking with us in these great Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation. And of course we know that Jesus comes to us in very real ways in each and every Sacrament of the Church. It is real, it is physical, it is tangible.
Encouraged by this Good News, can we also consider today how Jesus comes to us and walks with us in our brothers and sisters? In the ordinary and the extraordinary, Jesus reveals Himself. In the precious moments spent between a parent and a child, Jesus is there. In the unique love of husband and wife, Jesus is there. In the unborn child, longing to be born, Jesus is there. In the frightened elderly perhaps battling serious illness, Jesus is there, even in the death of a friend or a loved one, Jesus is there, in the beggar and the poor, Jesus is there, in the stranger, perhaps an immigrant, Jesus is there, in the inmate, Jesus is there, in those who make mistakes and even sin, Jesus is there, in the grand celebrations of our life, Jesus is there, in those times that seem dark and lost, Jesus in there. Even in the storms of life, Jesus is there! Jesus comes to us, Jesus walks with us, Jesus never forsakes or leaves us.
How can we respond to this beautiful Gospel message? For us as Catholics, can we commit to receiving Jesus in a most worthy and thankful manner? Can we truly learn to become what we receive when we take into to our own bodies, the precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus? If for whatever reason, it has been too long since we have been to Reconciliation, can we trust in Him and go, and then experience the overwhelming peace of His forgiveness? Can we focus too on truly experiencing Jesus in our brothers and sisters? And we should ask ourselves too, will others have Christ revealed to them in our being present to them?
With Jesus always coming to us, with Jesus always walking with us, we will walk on, walk on, with hope in our heart, and we will never walk alone, we'll never walk alone!
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