{"id":9412,"date":"2014-05-04T18:05:07","date_gmt":"2014-05-04T22:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=9412"},"modified":"2014-05-04T18:05:07","modified_gmt":"2014-05-04T22:05:07","slug":"recursion-on-the-road-to-emmaus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/05\/recursion-on-the-road-to-emmaus.html","title":{"rendered":"Recursion on the Road to Emmaus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I find today\u2019s Mass readings<\/a> particularly wonderful, for reasons that I think are plenty enjoyable for non-Christians, too. \u00a0In this selection of Luke\u2019s Gospel, we hear about the experience of two of the disciples who are travelling on the way to Emmaus. \u00a0They are joined by a third traveler, who seems ignorant of the recent death of Jesus in Jerusalem. \u00a0The two disciples explain what has happened, including the rumors that their teacher\u2019s body is missing. \u00a0And then\u2026<\/p>\n

And he said to them, \u201cOh, how foolish you are!\u00a0How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!\u00a0Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things\u00a0and enter into his glory?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,\u00a0he interpreted to them what referred to him\u00a0in all the Scriptures.<\/p>\n

As they approached the village to which they were going,\u00a0he gave the impression that he was going on farther. \u00a0But they urged him, \u201cStay with us,\u00a0for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.\u201d\u00a0So he went in to stay with them.<\/p>\n

And it happened that, while he was with them at table,\u00a0he took bread, said the blessing,\u00a0broke it, and gave it to them.\u00a0With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,\u00a0but he vanished from their sight.<\/p>\n

Then they said to each other,\u00a0\u201cWere not our hearts burning within us\u00a0while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?\u201d\u00a0So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem\u00a0where they found gathered together\u00a0the eleven and those with them who were saying,\u00a0\u201cThe Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the two recounted\u00a0what had taken place on the way\u00a0and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, in this one Mass reading, the entire Mass is encapsulated. \u00a0The followers of Christ straggle along, trying to make sense of the outside world and progressing (as best they know) to their destination. \u00a0Then, the Scriptures are opened, read, and interpreted\u2013the first part of Mass, the Liturgy of the Word.<\/p>\n

Once the people have been fortified by knowledge, then Christ is made known in the breaking of the bread\u2013the Liturgy of the Eucharist. \u00a0We are more prepared to recognize Him and receive Him because of the instruction that has gone before, but the appearance is still startling.<\/p>\n

Finally, once the liturgy is over, we have to return to the world we were discussing, newly fortified, to share what we received and reflect (as best we can) the love that shone on us.<\/p>\n

Seeing the whole Mass so neatly tucked recursively into the Mass just delights the\u00a0Hofstadterian<\/a> parts of my spirit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, if symmetries at different scales doesn\u2019t make your heart skip a beat, let me just say that I found the self-similarity of today\u2019s service to be as lovely as this hymn:<\/p>\n