Readings for the Day:
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Recently, I've been getting a lot of questions about how do we listen to God in our lives. The first thing I can say to answer that question is that asking how do we listen better is a very good start.
When we have questions like this, it often helps to turn to Scripture, and today's Gospel is particularly good place to start.
Cleopas and his friend are walking down the road to Emmaus, mourning the loss of their master, Jesus. All of a sudden, a stranger meets them on the way who helps them look through Scripture to see that all that has come to pass was necessary and will be, in the end, good.
When they finally reach their destination, Cleopas and his friend invite this stranger to eat with them, and when this stranger breaks the bread, they finally realize, before He vanishes, that this stranger is Jesus.
Just like Jesus on the road to Emmaus with Cleopas and his friend, we too hear God's voice throughout our lives, though at times unawares. Jesus is there with us always, even if we don't know it.
Like Cleopas and the other disciple with him, we have to be ever watchful to realize that Jesus is actually there with us. We need to open our eyes, that is our hearts and minds, to see God before us, and we need to open our ears to hear Him.
Jesus is there with us always. If we really want to listen to what He is saying to us, then we need to take the time to recognize His presence. That may take time, like with Cleopas and his friend. Sometimes we will just have to wait until Jesus is made known to us in an event such as, to quote Luke, "the breaking of the bread."