Stay with us, Lord Jesus

Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, many today feel downcast, distraught and discouraged along the road of uncertainty. The global pandemic we are experiencing has left so many grieving the loss of a loved one and living in fear of getting sick. Watching the news every day is very depressing, hearing the numbers of those testing positive for the virus and death tolls as well as the countless left unemployed.

Television commercials keep reminding us to wash our hands and to practice social distancing. Slogans like “We are in this together” and “Together alone” make us wonder what all this really means, for it can all be overwhelming.

On Easter Sunday I stopped by a local store to pick up a few things on my way back home from the cathedral in downtown Brownsville. Someone whom I didn’t recognize (because of the face masks) approached me and said how they had enjoyed Holy Mass and was grateful the diocese was reaching out. I could tell this person wanted to talk, and I did my best to listen attentively from a distance. I asked the individual what was meant by the comment made, “We are not in this together.”

The person explained that “we may be experiencing the same storm, but we are all in a different boat.” That while some people are still able to afford buying groceries, others are in line at the food bank in order to feed their family. While some still have their jobs because they are able to work from home, others are not able to even log in to apply for unemployment benefits.

Even worse is the nightmare of many facing the harsh reality of being laid off and losing their health benefits. While some are able to dig into their savings or retirement funds, others don’t know how they will pay their mortgage, rent or their next car payment. The person finished by telling me, “It’s one thing to live from paycheck to paycheck, and another to live from paycheck to no paycheck at all.” I realized this was exactly what this person and many others are living.

Then I was asked if I could pray for a family member who was at the hospital battling pneumonia alone without visitors. I promised I would remember them in my daily prayers and at Holy Mass. I was deeply moved by the faith of this individual when I was asked for a blessing before we said goodbye.

As I drove home, I reflected and remembered that someone very dear to me had just sent me a quote from Thomas Merton: “It is easy enough to tell the poor to accept their poverty as God’s will, when you yourself have warm clothes and plenty of food and medical care and a roof over your head and no worry about rent. But if you want them to believe you — try to share some of their poverty and see if you can accept it as God’s will yourself!”

The half-dozen appearances of Jesus after his resurrection assured the frightened apostles and disciples struggling to understand their new reality that no matter what, Jesus is with them and reassures them of his presence in their lives, regardless of what the future holds.

Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), we are all trying to cope with our new reality, and no doubt we will never be the same again. Along the road of uncertainty, the Lord Jesus listens to us attentively and knows our pain because he experienced it firsthand. He died for our salvation and has come to heal our hurting and broken world. He alone is the healer of our souls.

We need to invite the Lord Jesus to “stay with us,” like the disciples did that evening. The decision is ours to open our hearts and let him into our lives. We will always find him in the Sacred Scriptures (Liturgy of the Word) so our hearts will burn and desire him, and our eyes of faith be opened wide as we recognize him in the breaking of the bread (Liturgy of the Eucharist).

Even though we are not able to receive him physically at this time, we are invited to Spiritual Communion until the day we anticipate we are able to be together once again. Until that day comes, may our desire to receive him grow as our appreciation for the most Holy Eucharist deepens and our faith in him sustains us.

Perhaps in the coming days we can call someone we haven’t heard from and ask how they are doing and how they are coping with this global pandemic. Perhaps we can make an effort to listen attentively to them and pray with them as we realize that we are never alone, for the Lord Jesus walks with us on this journey and is with us every day until the end of time.

St. Paul reminds us as he did the Romans (12:12), “Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.”

Deacon Luis Zuniga is the director of the Office for Pastoral Planning & San Juan Diego Ministry Institute