19/04/2026
๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐
(3๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ)
๐ฏ๐ ๐พ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐
By: Dexie Anne Bernal
The two disciples start their trek in very poor shape โwith their eyes downcastโ, and they are moving in the wrong direction โ away from Jerusalem. Jesus enters unseen and unrecognised, as he so often does. With skill and tenderness, he cajoles them into telling their story. They didnโt even have to find him โ he found them.
Did you ever meet someone while on a journey- in a place, train or bus, hitchhiking, looking for asylum, a Sunday walk, a queue in a hospital, or the dentist, and you have a personal chat? People in the doctor's waiting room tell all sorts of personal details about themselves and their children. It was the same for the disciples on this Sunday walk. The disciples on the road at a bad time in their lives met a stranger who made some sense of some of their troubles. Jesus made sense of their distress by his presence and his word. A good chat can heal a bad day. A good prayer can do the same.
This story of shattered hopes and loss of dreams is familiar to us. Jesusโ gentle accompaniment and listening presence enables two downcast disciples to express their story. Only then does he offer them a more life-giving interpretation of recent events. As recognition dawns, their hearts are ablaze.
Jesus, in times of disillusionment and faded dreams you stand at the door of my life waiting for me to invite you in. May the experience of your risen presence bring about a transformation in my daily engagement with others. Teach me how to listen well, both to my own story and theirs.