Walking With Those Who Walk Away

“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way?”

This last week I had two meetings
that have stuck with me all week.
The first was on Monday,
when a couple visiting from Oregon
came to say hello to me.
They explained that since COVID,
they had been watching our Mass online,
and now they wanted to say hello in person.

They had moved from Sunnyvale
just as COVID was happening,
and they had tuned in ever since.
They were thankful, saying that the livestream
kept their faith going in a very difficult time,
when they had not yet found a community.
They were holding, on maybe with a tether,
and it got them through.
Now, even though they have found a community of their own,
they still continue to tune in.

Then recently, an older community member from our own parish
came to me right after one of the Masses and said,
“Father, I have been watching online since before COVID,
and on Easter Sunday I decided it was time to come back.
I came back, and it was simply wonderful,
the celebration and the welcome.
Now I am coming back every week.
Thank you, because in that dark period
I did not think I could hold on,
but you gave me the lifeline.”

So I am very grateful to Kirby and Tim,
to Jim and Juergen and Leanne,
and the whole team who put this on every week.
It is a lot of work, this livestream, but it works.
There are many people who rely on it.
They are holding on, maybe not even with a rope,
maybe only a string,
and they are just looking for some reason to hold on.

I know that many of you, over the years,
have told me how sad you are
that your children and grandchildren
do not come to church.
It is hard, because you wonder what you have done
that has led them away, or not to stay.

It is hard, because you struggle.
You want them to have what you have.
But I want to say to you: you have not failed.
You have been faithful.
And to remain faithful is the important part.
We must continue to do what we are called to do,
and we need to listen to the Scripture today.

Look at what happens in today’s Gospel.
This is a really wonderful text,
and it needs to be broken open.
Jesus meets two disciples
on the road to Emmaus.
Now you have to understand:
Emmaus was the antithesis of Jerusalem.
Think of it like Las Vegas.
That is where they were going.
They were walking away from Jerusalem, the city of God,
and walking toward the city of man, Emmaus.

And notice what Jesus does not do.
This is important.
Jesus does not stop them and say,
“Wait, where are you going?”
He does not scold them.
He does not stand before them
in a glorified state saying,
“Hey, it is me, look!”
He does not do any of that.

He simply walks and listens to their story.
He walks with them as they walk away.
He listens and then, after they are done,
he breaks open all of Scripture
and connects it to himself.
They still did not get it,
but their hearts were burning.
Their hearts were burning on fire,
and still they did not understand.

So they pleaded with him.
They knew something inside.
They had a sense that something was right,
that they needed it.
And so they said,
“Stay with us, it is nearly evening.”
And he did.
But as he broke the bread, their eyes were opened,
and then he vanished.
The vanishing, of course, is that they become him.
They become the living presence of the Eucharist.
Then they do not just go back to Jerusalem.
They run back to Jerusalem.

This mirrors the movement of the liturgy.
Every Sunday we do this exact same thing.
Every liturgy was built on this.
This is why the Eucharist was first called
the breaking of the bread.

What do we do? We come, we gather.
We go to the penitential rite,
we listen to our struggles of the week,
and we ask the Lord to forgive us.
We have that exchange with the Lord.
Then we listen to Scripture,
which is what we are doing right now.
We break open the Scripture
and see how it relates to our lives,
and what God has done.
We try to relate it to our own lives.

And in a few moments,
we are going to go to the Liturgy of the Eucharist,
the breaking of the bread.
And after that, we get sent.
He said you are meant to run back to your homes.
Well, not quite run, but you are meant to go back
in eager anticipation to share what you have seen and done.

All of that movement is to say this:
there are people who are struggling,
struggling with their faith in this difficult time.
Some people have never recovered from COVID.
They are still isolated, still alone.
Some were struggling before COVID ever came,
and they are still struggling to find where God is in our society,
where God is in all of this.
If God is so present, why are there so many wars in the world?
They ask all these difficult questions,
and they do not have a faith community.
They are holding on.

See, this is what Jesus does.
Jesus does not give up on them.
God does not give up on them, ever.
He walks with them
as they walk away from the Church,
and he wants them to know
that he is with them always,
that no matter whatever they do,
he is always going to be with them.
And then, when they are ready, they will hear.
Their eyes will be opened, and they will see the Lord.

So the question comes back to us:
what role do we play?
Because we do play a role.
We are called to reach out to those very people.
Maybe they are your sons and daughters,
your grandsons and granddaughters.
Maybe it is a sibling, or a spouse who used
to come with you to church and no longer does,
because they are disaffiliated and find it too hard.
Maybe they are young people, young adults.

What I am asking you to do is to walk with them.
And what does that look like?
It means having a conversation.
Do not do what Jesus did not do.
Do not scold them.
Do not get around them.
Just listen to their story.
Ask them what struggles they are having in life.
Do not connect it yet.
Do not bring it back yet.
Just listen to what their life is like,
what they are struggling with,
what their worries are,
what they are really finding hard to do.

And then, if something connects, share your wisdom.
In time, their hearts will burn
if you remain faithful with them
and walk with them,
even if they are walking away.
My friends, even if they are walking away,
maybe most especially
if they are walking away,
your role is to be present,
to do what Jesus did on the road to Emmaus.
Walk with them. Listen to their story.

And then maybe break bread. Not this bread,
maybe just ordinary bread.
Have a meal and somewhere in the conversation,
I promise you, if you do it often enough,
a question will come up,
something will happen,
and their hearts will burn.
Then comes your invitation.
But do not do it any sooner
than they are ready.
Wait for the invitation.
Wait for the opening.
And then invite them back to the table.
It will make a great deal of difference.

Until then, we are called to keep them in our hearts,
to walk with them,
because they are holding on
with a tether, maybe even a string.
It is up to us to keep walking with them as they struggle.

So today, let us acknowledge that our hearts are burning.
Did we not recognize him on the way?
We are called to be
the breaking of the bread for others.

“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way?”