Weekly
Reflections
The Emmaus Road
Luke 24:13-35
The story of Jesus meeting two disciples on the road to
Emmaus is a puzzling tale. The disciples do not recognise Jesus even though he
walks and talks with them for several hours. He is even the topic of their
conversation, as he explains to them how his death fulfils scriptural
prophesies of the Messiah.
The story has a fourfold structure. A group of people come
together, study the scriptures, break bread together, and go out to share the
good news. In this we have a foretaste of the church to come. This pattern of
gathering, exploring the Bible, sharing a meal and going into the world has
been the structure of many Christian services since, including ours. Breaking
bread looks back to the last supper; but also forward, to the communion at the
heart of our liturgy. And all this takes place on Sunday, which would become
the day when Christians gather to worship.
The Emmaus story has a different tone to many of the other Gospel
accounts in which Jesus appears to the disciples after his death. There is no
dramatic revelation announced by shining angels or heralded by an earthquake,
or miraculous appearance in a locked room. In these other resurrection accounts,
the disciples believe Jesus is alive because they see him. The disciples travelling to Emmaus recognise Jesus only when he breaks bread with them, as he did at the
last supper. Then, they recall that their hearts “burned within” them as he
explained the scriptures. Luke’s story suggests we can encounter the risen
Christ in the scriptures and in communion.
Nicky Cusworth
Lent Study 2020
There is Lenten Devotional material to use each day at home. Thank you Nicky for organising this.
Advent Study 2017
We are reading Goodness and Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas. A
collection of readings by various authors including Pope Francis,
Thomas Merton & Richard Rohr. Copies are available for $20. Please
sign up on the sheet in the foyer if you would like a copy of the book
and/or would like to attend the study group.
LENT STUDY 2017
Our book will be Dethroning Mammon: Making Money Serve Grace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Sign
up sheet in foyer, you can buy a hard copy for $13, or get a
kindle/electronic version for about $7 (the US Amazon site is often
cheapest.)The study group will meet on Tuesday evenings at 7pm in the Holland Room, starting on 7th March.
ADVENT STUDY 2016 with Meditation
Short discussion on weekly readings followed by meditation each Wednesday at 7pm in the Holland Room.
LENT STUDY 2016
Our weekly LENT study will begin in the Holland Room at 7pm, Wednesday 17th February. We will be reading Reflections for Lent 2016
by Paula Gooder, Andrew Davison, Martyn Percy and Steven Croft. Copies
of the book will be available from the office for $16.50, or you can
buy the Kindle edition from Amazon for about $5. Please sign up in the
foyer if you would like a copy of the book and/or would like to attend
the study group.
ADVENT STUDY 2015
This year we will read Richard Rohr’s Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent.
We will meet on Wednesday evenings in the Holland Room at 7pm, starting on
Wednesday 2nd December.
Please
sign up on the sheet in the foyer if you would like a book, and would
like to attend the study meetings. A hard copy of the book costs
$12, or you can download it from Amazon for kindle if you prefer for
about $6.
PAST STUDY GROUPS:
LENT STUDY 2015
Lent study this year will be on Wednesdays at 7pm in the Holland Room, beginning 25th February 2015 (the Wednesday after Ash Wednesday). We will be reading Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter by various authors, the companion book to Watch for the Light, which we read during Advent.
ADVENT STUDY 2014
Our Advent study will use Watch for the Light,
a collecting of daily readings by authors including Henri Nouwen, T. S.
Eliot, Thomas Merton, John Donne, C. S. Lewis, Dorothy Day, Meister
Eckhart, Sylvia Plath and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Please sign up in the foyer to order the book ($20), and indicate if
you will attend the study group, which will meet at 7pm on Tuesdays
during Advent (starting 2nd December.)
SEPTEMBER BOOKCLUB 2013
We will be reading Richard Rohr’s
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for
the two halves of life.
Weekly notes
are available to reflect on your reading using the
study journal. Contact the office and we can email
these to you.
We will
discuss the book at a bring and share dinner on
Thursday September 19th at 7pm.
AUGUST BOOKCLUB 2014
We will be discussing Marcus J Borg's novel Putting Away Childish Things on Thursday 7pm 14th August at a bring and share supper in the hall
