Fourth station
The Risen Christ on the road to Emmaus
C. We adore you, Christ, and we bless you.
T. For with your Easter you have given life to the world.
1L. From the Gospel according to Luke
On that same day tow of Jesus' followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. Jesus said to them, "What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?" They stood still, with sad faces. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?" "What things?" he asked. "The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth," they answered. "This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. Then Jesus said to them, "How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer thesethings and then to enter his glory?" And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets (Lk 24,13-19, 25-27).
2L. A path, a dialogue
Jerusalem-Emmaus: the way of the resigned. They conjugate the verb to hope to the past. "We hoped..." And it is sadness at once. Bonjour tristesse.
Good morning sadness, you are written in the lines of the ceiling, symbol of the house that should be welcoming; good morning sadness, you are written in the eyes that I love; good morning sadness goddess of the tender caress of death. It is cold in the heart, full of broken pieces. It is cold around the heart full of ruins. It is cold. Science tells us: the physical world is going toward geological glaciation. Experience tells us: the human world is going toward ethical glaciation.
And here, he comes: "I have come to bring fire and what more do I want than to ignite it?" He is light. He is heat.
Beside the glaciers of sadness he melts the ice little by little. Heat is right behind the cold, light is right behind darkness.
Today darkness is more dense, sadness is thicker. "When youth gets colder, the rest of the world's teeth shiver," Bernos would say.
The world needs juvenile enthusiasm. Today's youth can indeed get excited over slogans or drugs, but they are enthused only if they have certainty in their mind and tenderness in their heart. The Risen One is beside them, ready to explain that life has a meaning, that pain is not torments of agony, but pains of a labor of love, that life wins over death but one must be willing to pay tribute, meaning his contribution. A younger world is prepared by youth who are passionate of the Word, that read the Gospel every day, the re-read it in every event, incarnate it in every action, the represent it in their entire life. The two of Emmaus - Cleofa and the other, not named so that each of us feels named - teach this discipleship of the Word.
T. Rejoice, Virgin Mother: Christ has risen. Hallelujah!
C. Stay with us, Risen Jesus: night is falling. We will give you a home. We will give you a dish. We will give you heat. We will give you love. Stay with us, Lord: the evening of doubt and anxiety put pressure on the heart of every man. Stay with us, Lord: and we will be in your company, and this is enough for us. Stay with us, Lord, because night is falling. And make us witnesses of your Easter.
T. Amen.
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