Our Tabernacle doors, created by artist John Lajba, depict the disciples recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread. |
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and
forever."
- Hebrews 13:8
Most of Jesus' life on earth is hidden from us, including
His Risen Life.
Even now, He is risen and among us but chooses to remain
hidden, wrote Caryll Houselander in her book The Risen Christ.
"He is 'the Way'; the Way does not change,"
Houselander said. "We are helped by this consistency to recognize Him in
His hidden life in ourselves."
Like his disciples, we don't always recognize the Risen
Lord. But His appearances in Scripture highlight Jesus' gifts to us and give us
some clues on how He reveals Himself to us, the author said.
"To the stricken world in the person of Magdalene,
compassion: 'Why are you weeping, for Whom are you seeking?'
"To the apostles, His first word, 'Peace!'
"To Thomas, 'Believe' because of the wounds -- 'the
courage of faith.'
"To Peter, the wonderful opportunity to affirm His
love.
"To the disciples who mourned Him as lost, communion
with Him."
Jesus continues his hidden, daily miracles, appearing to us
in the breaking of the bread and through many other "unobserved, unguessed
miracles of grace, contrition, conversion, hope, forgiveness, love, taking
place secretly in the human soul."
He is hidden in everyone, Houselander said, but we must have
the eyes of faith to see Him.
"He may come as
a little child, making enormous demands, giving enormous consolation; He may
come as a stranger, so that we must give the hospitality to a stranger that we
should like to give to Christ; He may come to us in His Passion, disfigured by
our sins and all sin, asking the utmost courage of us, that we may not be
scandalized and may believe. He may come to us as a servant and compel us to
the extreme humility which accepts His service, as Peter had to do, when He
washed his feet, and as the disciples did with unquestioning joy, when He
cooked their little meal on the seashore."
Perhaps the most difficult place to find the Risen Christ is
in ourselves, she said, because we see ourselves as so unworthy. But we all
have the means to radiate our Lord to others: "words, a human voice,
sympathy, hands to serve."
Remember, the Risen Christ is appearing to us, and "the
only condition for finding and recognizing the Risen Christ today is that we
love Him: not power, chance, or virtue, but only love."
Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.
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