Telling His story in our stories

Today’s Gospel passage is from Luke and it is about two disheartened disciples of Christ, post-crucifixion, walking to Emmaus, who are joined by a Christ they did not recognize. He teases out their stories from them before He proceeds to recount the history of God’s salvific love from the very beginning to the coming of the Messiah and what part suffering would play in the fruition of God’s glory. 

The disciples recognize Jesus only at the breaking of bread and when Jesus disappears from their sight do they finally see the truth of the Risen Christ. With renewed vigour in their hearts, they set out to be with their fellow disciples and to share a new Easter story of encountering the resurrected Christ. 

There are so many lessons to draw from this passage but what Archbishop William Goh shared about how history is a living thing, a integral part of where we come from and who we will become resonated with me.

My story closely woven into the fabric of His story gives my story deeper meaning, especially when I encounter hardship, suffering and loss and see all the bad with the eyes of a disciple who listens to the Teacher tell it like it is: salvation is not without pain, blood must be spilled, death must occur, a willing sacrifice made, and yet, because it is the story of God’s love, there is hope and the birth of a new story, a story of new life, a celebration of eternal glory, not just when we return to Him, but in the here and now. Today, we can rejoice, even in the midst of sorrow or great difficulty. 

The Archie encourages us to use this period of grace as we are forced to stay home, to tell our stories to each other and experience healing. In sharing and making sense of our tears of struggle and pain, we can begin to integrate our experiences into our own life story and the overarching story of salvation, weaving in a rich counterpoint of faith brought to life in real and concrete ways. It is here we can bless others. By being Christ to each other as we offer up our own stories in an ocean of compassionate and connected humanity, we blend our stories harmoniously in an eternal symphony of God’s boundless, merciful and unconditional love. 

So we turn our hearts and faces towards Jesus, listen carefully to His words of wisdom and allow Him to ignite our imaginations and passions so that we will always see Him clearly enough to follow Him with joy in every step.  And we can thus tell His story in our stories.