While we were eating dinner, we saw a woman outside, accompanied by a man, and both appeared intoxicated. The woman was impaired to the point that she could no longer walk without falling down. And though her friend was doing the best he could, they were not getting very far.
Most people (including us, for a time) were amused by the scene. The woman would fall down in the middle of the street, her friend would offer her a piggy-back, she would belligerently turn him down, and so on. We sat in the restaurant commenting on if she was going to the concert at the Hampton Casino and if they would let her in or not, but nobody thought to try to help. They really needed police, or an ambulance kind of help too, not just another pair of hands to hold her up. We had the kids with us, and had both left our cell phones in the car, so we were limited in our options, but I did ask the waitress if someone behind the bar should call 911 to get the couple some help. Her reply was to point out that the couple had not been there, so "I don't know what we can really do..."
At that point, we had finished eating and were about to leave. We had lost sight of the couple, but decided to walk in the direction they were headed to see if they were still out there and if anyone was helping them. They had only gotten about 75 feet or so, and were sitting on the sidewalk. 'Well, at least they are stationary for now', we thought, and continued walking to the other end of the beach. When we walked by them on the way back, a police car had just pulled up to them and the gentleman was trying to talk the officer into getting them "a cab to bring them back to the Ashworth." (a hotel about 1/4 mile from their current location).
I'm not sure if someone called the police or if the officer had just noticed them there and decided to stop, but I was glad that they were going to get some assistance, albeit possibly with some unintended consequences, but at least they (in particular, she) was going to be safe.
I thought more about this when I read the Gospel reading for today. It is a fairly familiar part of Luke's Gospel where two of Jesus' disciples were walking the seven miles to Emmaus, and talking about the recent events of His crucifixion. Jesus then starts walking with them, but they do not recognize Him initially. He continues along with them discussing the scriptures and why things had to happen the way that they did and they still do not recognize Him until they invite Him to stay with them.
"And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight." Luke 24:30-31
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight." Luke 24:30-31
It made me wonder: How many times do we fail to recognize Christ in our lives? He told us whatever we do to the least of these, you do unto Me. So, the drunk woman who needed help that she was not getting last night, was, in a way, Christ. Perhaps I should have gone in the opposite direction after dinner, gotten my phone and called for help. Maybe I should have gone to them and stayed there while that help came. It's hard to know what would have been the correct thing to do while in a situation like that and balancing the responsibility to protect my family, especially since she had shown signs of belligerence. But I still questioned if I had done the right thing. Sometimes, He doesn't appear the way we think He 'should', and we don't recognize Him because the opportunity to help Him goes against our desire to 'not get involved'.
The disciples on the way to Emmaus express their disappointment that Jesus was crucified, saying that they they were hoping that "he would be the one to redeem Israel". Well, that was Jesus' whole purpose, and not just to redeem Israel, but to redeem all people. But the disciples were disappointed because this hope was not answered in a way that they could understand. Sometimes we don't recognize Him because He doesn't fulfill our needs the way we think He should.
And we have gotten to a point in today's society where a lot of people will tell you that we should not speak Jesus' word because it is not inclusive or tolerant according to their expectations. But Jesus was, and is today, very tolerant and inclusive, almost to the point of scandal in His time on earth. He did come to redeem us, and that we might have forgiveness for our sins. Today's idea of inclusion and tolerance, however, is to deny that there is any sin. Jesus never said, 'you have not sinned, because there is no sin'. He said,"your sins are forgiven.". He said, "Go and sin no more". But sometimes we do not recognize Him because His truth does not mesh with our desires.
When thinking about sin, however, an important thing to remember about this Gospel, is that Jesus met these disciples where they were. He did not wait for them to come to a place where they were 'comfortable' with the idea of seeing Him.
He talked to them about the scriptures, and His plan from the beginning. He taught them and clarified for them what had happened. He did not wait for them to become scriptural scholars.
In the end, they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread, and then He was no longer visible to them. But they were nourished with His words and teachings, and they could not wait to go out into the world and share their witness.
This is the same thing that Christians are called to do today. The Deacon's homily pointed out the similarity between this Gospel and the mass. There is teaching of scripture, clarification of His word, we recognize Him in the breaking of the bread, and then, most importantly, like the disciples, we are sent out to witness to these teachings. We are sent out to be examples of Jesus, by seeing Jesus in everyone else.
I know I mention this a lot, but none of us will be perfect. I know I have a LOT of work to do, myself. But if we are conscience of this mission, we can be better.
God bless,
P.D.O.
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