On the Road

In Luke's Gospel, we hear: "That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred" including the death and reported resurrection of Jesus. As they walk, the risen Lord joins them, but they do not recognize him. Later on, after Jesus breaks bread with them, they exclaim: "Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

I love that line. What a realization!

It seems to me that we are all on the road to Emmaus, thinking about our goals, while worried about many things including the economy, terrorism, and the price of gas. Concerned by material things, we don't notice the presence of our Lord, always walking with us, present on every step of life's journey.

Is this God's way? Perhaps God likes to come to us in disguise. Maybe, throughout our lives, God comes to us through others. Like our mothers, for example.

My mother, Ramona, raised six children. She fed us, cleaned us, dressed us, and took care of us when we were sick. She loved us to the end. I can still remember her laughter, as well as her tears. When my mother cried, my heart burned within me.

Fr. Richard Rohr has written: "... the mother is the one who parts the veil for us. She gives us that experience of grounding, of intimacy, of tenderness, of safety that most of us associate with our image of God. Whoever God is, God is profoundly and essentially what it means to be male and female. We have to find and to trust the feminine face of God and the masculine face of God. Both are true and both are necessary for a full relationship with God."

Just as God gave birth to all of creation, mothers gave birth to us. Though God is referred to as the Father, a very strong case can be made that God is the Mother as well.