CNEWA assists Christians and their neighbours in the Middle East, as well as Eastern Rite Christians of India and Eastern Europe Today finds me en route to Beirut to join two other bishops and several staff members on a familiarization tour of the world and works of CNEWA International and CNEWA Canada(The Catholic Near East Welfare Association).
On this trip, I will arrive a day before Archbishops Timothy Dolan (New York) and Alex J. Brunette (Seattle) and their staffs do, so that I can visit with the Jesuit community at St. Joseph's University, Beirut. I am uncertain what the possibilties for blogging will be on this day when I begin the second year of daily journal entries on The Journey of a Bishop
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FOURTH STATION
The Risen Lord Appears on the Road to Emmaus
All:
We adore You, O Christ
and we praise You!
Because by the Wood of the Cross and
the Light of the Resurrection,
You have redeemed the world!
Reading: "...It happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.... And He said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the scriptures" (Luke 24: 15, 25-27).Reflection:
The Emmaus road is the story of the Christian life. These disciples were walking away from Jerusalem and the apostolic faith community in defeat and dejection. They had lost hope. We too, have moments of despair and desolation. The Risen Lord Jesus accompanies us along the road, even when we are moving in the wrong direction. Only the Lord can "break open" the Word in order to help us understand the stories of our lives, especially suffering, and read them in harmony with the pattern of the Scriptures. Only the Lord can rekindle our energy and our resolve to devote ourselves to what is most important in life.
Silence
Prayer: Lord God, as disciples on our pilgrimage, we implore Jesus Christ: stay with us, Lord. Open our hearts to true conversion and, as we have known the Lord in the breaking of the bread, so make us witnesses of a new humanity, renewed, reconciled and at peace in Your love. Send us as heralds of the repentance and forgiveness You offer to all in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with You, forever and ever. Amen.
All:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
That night the apostles met in fear;
Amidst them came the Lord most dear,
And said My peace be on all here. Alleluia.
FIFTH STATION
The Risen Lord is Recognized in the Breaking of the Bread
All:
We adore You, O Christ
and we praise You!
Because by the Wood of the Cross and
the Light of the Resurrection,
You have redeemed the world!
Reading: " ...They urged Him, 'Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.' So He went in to stay with them. And it happened that while He was with them at table, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that, their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us'" (Luke 24: 29-32).
Reflection:
The encounter on the road leads to the table, the breaking of the bread and the total gift of self. Recognition of the Risen Lord is always linked with the Eucharist. At the heart of our Christian life is this meal of Word and Eucharist which we celebrate every Sunday. The Risen Lord presides over all our journeys, wishing to set our hearts on fire in generous service to all people in need, near and far. The gift we have received is the gift we share. Humbly, we set out on the various roads of our lives to respond to all the hungers of the human family.
Silence
Prayer: You are truly blessed, O God of holiness: You accompany us with love as we journey through life. Blessed too, is Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is present among us, and whose love gathers us together. As once He did for His disciples, Christ now opens the Scriptures for us and breaks the bread. May the Eucharist we celebrate guide us to the fullness of Christ's life. We pray in the power of Christ's Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
All:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
When Thomas, first the tidings heard,
How they had seen the Risen Lord,
He doubted the disciples' word. Alleluia.
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Oblate Served as Vicar General of the Ottawa Archdiocese
The Oblates will gather this morning at 11am at Canadian Martyrs Church on Main Street to commend to the Lord's mercy their confrere, Father Lawrence Joseph Conlon, who passed away on Holy Saturday at Springhurst Residence, at the age of 87. From a large family in Sandy Hill, he entered the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Novitiate in Orleans in 1941 and pronounced his final vows in 1945. Ordained a priest on June 26, 1949, among other pastoral duties he served initially at St. Joseph's Parish here in Ottawa from 1949 to 1954, then obtained a doctorate from the Angelicum in Rome in 1959, served as Vicar General of the Ottawa Archdiocese (1973-74), an extraordinary appointment for a religious priest, and at Canadian Martyrs Parish here; from my time there, I know he was also fondly remembered for his ministry at St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, Halifax.
Travel precludes my attending the funeral today, but I shall remember him to the Lord at Mass this evening. R.I.P.
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