Encountering the Risen Lord

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 24:32

This verse, from Luke's gospel on the Road To Emmaus, reveals the state of many of our own hearts as we leave another Lenten season behind and rejoice in the Risen Lord. How often do we come out of the desert of Lent and into the paradise of the Easter season and realize the ways the Lord spoke to us "on the way" without us recognizing Him? How easy is it to forget His voice during the day to day struggles of life? How frequently do we forget to recognize Jesus Christ in our neighbor, in the stranger, in our family?

I had the opportunity to dive deeply into this passage (Luke 24:13-35) over the past couple of weeks during two of the bible studies I lead here at Benedictine through the ancient method of prayer called lectio divina. It was incredible how significantly the Lord spoke to each one of our hearts through the words of this sacred scripture in both similar and different ways. It is such a reminder that scripture truly is the living word of God,  and that to encounter the risen Lord, we need not look far.

As the Easter season beautifully coincides with the season of Spring, God's love reminds us that we are never alone. Jesus will always pursue our hearts and walk with us, even when we try to run away from things we don't understand or cannot accept.

                      

We've had a beautiful Easter season so far, with a lovely visit from the Wisconsin Lofy's- Scott, Patti, and Bernice (Aaron's parents and grandmother) during Holy Week and into Easter Monday (pictured above). Please keep us in prayer as we wrap up the end of the school year here at Benedictine in the next few weeks.  The students are in a frenzy as they strive to finish out the year and tie up loose ends with their academic lives, their social life, and their other commitments. Our biggest role at this point is to just be there for them and love them. We have a couple of events coming up that our FOCUS team is putting on that'll hopefully accomplish just that: a place for them to come away for awhile and rest, have fun, and encounter God's love through authentic relationships, just like these disciples of Jesus encountered Him on their way to Emmaus.

Also, I hope you like our new blog name and design! I decided that it's time we make this blog a family blog. We hope that our posts and stories about God's mission through us with FOCUS as well as God's more important mission through us with our family will inspire you to love your own in this world as well. We recently heard a quote from St. John Paul II that struck a cord in our hearts: "as the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live." We are striving to bring back the values that the family and the world must center on: selfless life-giving love, respect, faith, and hope. God bless you all!