“Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, ‘What are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, ‘Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?’ ”
In yesterday’s reading, it was Mary Magdalene who did not recognize Jesus (“When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.”); today, it’s Cleopas and another follower of Jesus (“but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him”).
God, help me understand that there are bound to be countless times today when I don’t recognize you, where my eyes prevent me from recognizing you even when you are in plain sight.
With all of the distractions I face when I quiet myself, it is sometimes all I can do to say, “Here, God, this is all yours. I don’t know what to do with it. Take it, bless it, make it into something good.”
Today let me be full-sighted, to understand that seeing what is right before me is sometimes an illusion—the work I have ahead of me, the tasks I hope to accomplish before the day is over, the hundred little distractions. God, help me to recognize you and, even more, do your will.