I want my heart to be burning within me. That’s what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas (who else would Cleopas’ companion be?) after their seemingly chance meeting with a stranger on the road to Emmaus – they got a burning heart. “Were not our hearts burning within us?” they said to one another. Are you like me in wanting a burning heart? So often we just hang in there, we just keep on keeping on. We go to work or school each day. But without much zip. We keep everything neat and clean. We do what we gotta do but our hearts do not burn. I’m thinking it would be great to live each day with enthusiasm and with passion. We might make a call, but Steve Jobs had a heart that burned within him so he created a whole new way to call. We might paint a ceiling, but Michelangelo had a heart that burned within him so he painted the Sistine Chapel. We might ride the bus but Rosa Parks had a heart that burned within her so she changed the way we ride on busses.
Even more important (eternally, infinitely more important) is to have a heart that burns within us with the love of God. Oh, we say our little prayers, we try to keep the commandments, we come to church on a Sunday but our do not hearts burn. We’re too often like the BEFORE version of Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas. They knew about Jesus. “He was a prophet mighty in deed and word but he was handed over to a sentence of death. We were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.” Yes, they knew about Jesus but they did not know Jesus in a way which would cause their hearts to burn with love. What changed them was an encounter, a personal, human encounter. Let’s look at the story of that encounter to get some lessons on how we might get burning hearts.
The first thing to notice is that the Cleopas family was open to welcoming the stranger. We’re told that they did not recognize Jesus but they were willing to meet this person, to encounter this individual. That is the first step to obtaining a heart that burns with us, the simple willingness to risk entering into a relationship. This is so because the Christian faith is not, at its most basic level, about rules, about practices, about doctrines. At its most basic level the Christian life is about a person, the person of Jesus. We must encounter the person of Jesus. The word “encounter” is a favorite of Pope Francis because it captures perfectly the give and take that are part of any relationship. In an encounter we receive the other and share ourselves in return. Faith in Jesus involves an encounter with God. We receive a personal relationship with God in our baptism and are claimed as part of the divine family. We respond in turn and share ourselves just as we are and we live as children of God. Faith in Jesus assures us that a genuine, human encounter with God is possible.
Okay, that would be great. I’d love to encounter God in the person of Jesus. But how do I do that? Jesus doesn’t go walking down the mean streets of Chicago like he did on the road to Emmaus. Happily, Jesus told us how to meet him in Chicago or anywhere. “Whatsoever you do to the least, that you do unto me.” The way to encounter Jesus is to meet him in those who are in need. The road to a burning heart is populated by those who are hurting. Since we meet people who are hurting all the time we have frequent, daily opportunities to have an encounter that connects us with Jesus. People are grieving, people are lonely, people are poor, people feel abandoned. Extending the hand of encounter to those who are in need opens the door of our heart so that a fire can be enkindled. Risking ourselves in the give and take of being present to the pain of others provides the fuel.
As the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus illustrates, however, the encounter itself is not enough to enflame the heart in itself. You need to reflect on the significance of the encounter. That’s what Jesus did with the Cleopases. By taking them through the scriptures they were able to see things as God sees them. It was that reflection which warmed their hearts. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke on the way and opened the Scripture to us?” We need to bring our encounters into prayer, into reflection, and hold them up to the light of the Scripture. That is the ignition switch that sets our hearts ablaze.
Finally, notice that the encounter with one another at the breaking of the bread warms the heart. When we break the bread and share the cup we are participating in the action of Jesus at the Last Supper. Jesus is present to us under the forms of bread and wine just as he was in the home of Cleopas. When we receive Holy Communion we say “the body of Christ” as an act of faith in his real presence. The Eucharist is a genuine encounter with the Lord. But we also encounter Jesus in the Body of Christ which is the Church. For that reason we must do the work of encountering one another as Church. Our hearts will not burn within us if we simply are sitting next to each other on these very uncomfortable folding chairs. No, we are called to break through the reticence, the barriers that keep us from meeting each other. In the face of one another we can recognize the face of Christ if we have the eyes to see it. At the moment of encounter our hearts do begin burning within us for we understand that Jesus is here right now and he will stay with us since we are the Body of Christ. The Lord not only appeared to Simon back then, he appears to us today. Jesus is made known to us in the breaking of the bread.