The images in this post are representations of Jesus with his disciples at the last supper and on the journey to Emmaus.
Mark dares to turn the great self-revelatory tradition of Yahweh from a declaration “I AM” into a question: “Who am I?”
Ched Myers
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I don’t know Who – or what – put the question. I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer yes to Someone – or Something – and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life in self-surrender, had a purpose.
Dag Hammarskjold
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We find ourselves addressed, and addressed, we find ourselves.
Sarah Bachelard
The Road to Emmaus by Sr. Marie-Paul Farran, OSB
Maximino Cerezo Barredo (Spanish, 1932–), “Supper at Emmaus.” 
John Giuliani (American, 1932–), “Emmaus.” 
Maximino Cerezo Barredo (Spanish, 1932–), “Supper at Emmaus.”
Take some time to think about the following two key questions that speak directly into our personal relationship with God.
What are three words that you would use to describe God?
(Then, when you have done that, go onto this next question.)
What are three words to describe how God sees you?
After some time think about this:
The first question, is in many ways, relatively easy, especially for those of us who have hung around church for a while. This question doesn’t cost us very much, even though we may come up with orthodox answers, like “loving”, “forgiving”, “creative”.
The second question however has a bit of a hook in it: it somehow implicates and involves me: it’s not an “outside” kind of question, but an “inside” question. I can’t cheat or fudge my answer, and then I realize, that even where there might be a bit of gap between my two answers, that gap isn’t terminal, but a place of grace where I am being invited to grow. The grace in this last question is that it reveals to us something of our truth.
If I can be, then God is Dag Hammarskjold
My people let us unite
Let us greatly respect our native roots
My people let us help one another
Let us help one another according to the Creator’s plan for putting us on this planet.
Native American Christian Worship Drum Circle by Broken Walls
Image credits
Ethiopian Last Supper
The inked strip of parchment from Ethiopia features a black Jesus at the Last Supper, an image ubiquitous in the country.
The Road to Emmaus by Sr. Marie-Paul Farran, OSB
A contemporary icon by Sister Marie-Paul Farran, who lives at the Monastére des Bénédictines du Mont des Oliviers (Benedictine Monastery on the Mount of Olives) in Jerusalem. Born in Egypt of Palestinian and Italian descent, she has been painting for decades in the Byzantine style with the help of other nuns from her community, who prepare the wood panels and apply the gold leaf.
Supper at Emmaus (two versions) by Maximino Cerezo Barredo
The Spanish-born Maximino (“Mino”) Cerezo Barredo, CMF, is a Claretian priest and liberation theologian, as well as an artist known for his murals. He has traveled extensively throughout Latin America, living for extended periods in Peru, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. In a 2012 interview he said, “What I want to convey through painting is God’s way of being that is embodied in the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth. He’s not a distant, absent God, but a God who became human in Jesus.”
Emmaus and Jesus and the disciples by Father John Giuliani
Fr John Giuliani is also a Catholic artist and priest, who in 1977 founded the Benedictine Grange, a religious center in West Redding, Connecticut. The son of Italian immigrants, he paints sacred figures from the Christian tradition with Native American faces. “In my work I try to celebrate a union of a common spiritual understanding,” he says, “to show how a single mystery can be approached through diverse cultures.”
Further information on the images can be found at The Unnamed Emmaus Disciple: Mary, wife of Cleopas?
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
