To road to destiny

Where does this road lead us? It leads to our destiny. Our ultimate goal, no matter what our circumstances, regardless of where we find ourselves right now, is heaven, or at least it should be. Our journey should be one full of questions and answers from Scripture, praying, devotions, sacraments and the list goes on, leading us to the destiny we hope for.

Two men traveled a road and met a man, a teacher who eased their sadness and their doubt. He opened for them Scripture filling them with the hope they had lost. Two men on the road to Emmaus walked with Jesus and dined with Jesus.

The road to Emmaus must be the road we choose to our destiny.  And as we travel that road to our eternal banquet, our Emmaus, we can walk with Jesus, filling our hearts with His burning love. As we reflect on Scripture each day of our lives, we ask Jesus to open them up for our understanding, for the way, the truth, and the life.

But the road isn’t always easy. Walking our road to Emmaus means accepting the crosses that come our way. It means accepting the fact there will be bumps in the road. There are obstacles, but there is hope. Yes, we all have a cross or crosses we need to carry and sometimes a cross seems impossible to carry, that it’s just too heavy. Today, we all seem to be carrying a heavy burden.

But God in His mercy, doesn’t allow us to carry that cross alone. He wants us to win the race, to be at that banquet table, so His hand is wrapped around our waist for support.  With His help, no cross is ever too heavy for our shoulders to carry.

There is a story told to me by a brother deacon, and you may have heard it before. It’s about a young man who felt like he was burdened with a cross he could not carry.  He complained for weeks asking our Lord to take it away from him. He kept pleading and finally God said to him, “I hear your cries, but together we’ll carry this burden”. But the man insisted, no Lord, it’s too much, please, give me a lighter cross.

So, our Lord took him to a warehouse of nothing but crosses and explained to the man he could choose any cross he feels comfortable with, replacing the one he now has.  The man went up and down every aisle of the warehouse, seeing only huge and heavy crosses, some he couldn’t even lift, others were full of splinters that could hurt and cut the skin, he wanted nothing to do with them, but he couldn’t find any that he felt he could carry. 

Almost exhausted he was about to leave and finally he saw this small cross by the door and he picked it up.  It felt good and he shouted with excitement and said God, this is it, I have found the cross I can carry, I’ll take this one. God said, “I thought you would choose that one, for that is the same one you came in with”.

Every moment of our lives, we are in the presence of our Lord. And every step we take, Jesus steps with us. Every cross we carry, Jesus carries with us. He wants to be alive with him in our hearts.  He wants to break bread with us at his Banquet Table. Today, take a quiet moment, break open Scripture and ask Jesus to send you the Holy Spirit for understanding. With a smile of joy, you will say, “Weren’t our hearts burning”.  What a meal he has planned for us.