Opening Prayer Series: Third Sunday of Eastertide Year A

The Opening Prayer for the Third Sunday of Eastertide reads as follows:

Let us pray,

( that Christ will give us a share in the glory of His unending life)

God our Father,

may we look forward with hope to our resurrection,

for You have made us for Your sons and daughters,

and restored the joy of our youth.

In making this prayer tangible for this coming week, the following reflection questions emerged.

1. Why do I want to have a share in God's glory?
2. How can I contribute to sharing God's glory to others in my work, home and parish?
3. Why is it important to look forward with hope to my own resurrection?
4. What does it mean to me to be a son/daughter of God?
5. What does it mean for God to have restored the joy of my youth?
6. How can I become the person God wants me to be this coming week?
7. What is my spiritual plan/agenda for this coming week to love and know God better?

Today's Gospel is the familiar story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus.  In it, Jesus allows the disciples to share their disappointment, sadness and their own personal hope before He gave them some teaching about Himself through the Scriptures. It was not until they were at table that He revealed Himself to them, and then the 'light bulb' experience occurred ' Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him' and 'did not our hearts burn within us as He talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us'..

So what about us? Do we spend time with Christ to be able to share our disappointment and sadness of our lives and our personal hope. Like the disciples in our gospel, He listens to us uninterrupted. God is God, and yet humble enough and respectful of us to listen to us uninterrupted. God is amazing.  Then we too need to pass Him the same courtesy- be silent before Him as He teaches us what we need to know.  We too can have a 'light bulb' experience when our eyes are opened by Him and we recognize Him. We too long for our hearts to burn within us as He talks to us.  

In spending time with Jesus, we must remember that we have two ears and one tongue- let us use both ears to listen to Him speak to us and our tongue to share the intricacies of our lives. God is ready to listen to us, but are we ready this coming week to listen to Him and have a 'light bulb' experience.

Let our hearts burn within us this coming week, not with indigestion of life, but with the love and companionship of God.