Scriptures makes the heart burn with desire: on Oratio as a seminal moment in our spiritual journey. (The Emmaus discipels 3)

When we meditate on Scripture, Guigo said when he wrote about lectio divina, it is like a cow ruminating food. The food, the words of Scripture, gets “rechewed”, over and over again. In the story about the two disciples form Emmaus, this happens when Jesus travels with them and gives them a "Bible study" on the road.

So many times during his ministry Jesus had spoken to his disciples about himself in terms of Scripture, ruminating about God’s word for his life. The two disciples understood a bit of this: they speak of Jesus as a “prophet” and of Him as the “hope of Israel” (Lk 24:19-21). They understand the link with the past. But Jesus finds it necessary to let them “rechew” Scripture again. He ruminates the food he gave them so many times before: In verses 25-27 he once again explains “what was said in all Scriptures concerning himself.” Together with them, he meditates on Scripture.

Their sadness and despair is reason enough for Him to bring them to hear, to read, to listen to words of God. Their human experience of their relationship with God had to be tested again in terms of the divine words. Their spirituality is brought back to the heart of the matter – that is, to what God wants and says. To meditate, to reflect on the deeper meaning of life, to be liberated from our somberness, we need to go to the divine words.

Jesus’ Bible study contains a short message: Scripture, He says to them, tells that the Christ “has” to suffer these things. But there is much more: he suffers so that he may “enter in his glory.” The word “glory” reminds one of the Old Testament motif of kabod, which symbolizes the overpowering, glorious Presence of God. The disciples heard of the vision given by angels that Jesus “was alive” (verse 23). Now they hear that Scriptures spoke about this as entering into the glory of God. His is now the life of glory, in the Presence of God.

One need not speculate how they felt about this “lesson” from Scripture, this “rechewing” of Jesus' message of old, this meditatio on the road to Emmaus. We hear from their own mouths what they say about their unusual Bible study: when Jesus, at the end of this episode, had left them, they asked each other: “Were not our hearts burning within us when he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (verse 32). Listening to Jesus on the road, set a fire ablaze in their hearts. Listening to the Word of God, they were touched by it in their innermost being (within us!), they now testify among themselves. The Words of Scripture had been “opened” up, their somberness and despair are being addressed. The Word of God was busy transforming them, was planting a deep desire in them.

And to desire is to pray. Their hearts burnt in prayer. This prayer is all about oratio as a key element in spirituality and in our spiritual reading of God’s word. Where one meditates on Scripture and where Scripture enters one’s innermost being, the heart breaks open and out in prayer.

So many times before they heard the message from Jesus. But here, on the way to Emmaus, it sank into their hearts in a unique manner, stirring them so deeply that they had to be with Jesus at all costs. So their prayerful invitation to Jesus to stay with them, reflects the prayerful response to the words of Jesus. And how intense is the language of their prayer: “They urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us...’” (verse 29). Slowly, gradually, they move from despair to prayer, from somberness to worship.

And so strongly Jesus had moved to the centre of their existence whilst he was talking to them in their Bible lesson, He, when they served the meal in their house in the little village in Emmaus, took over the role of host. He, in reality the guest, was the One who served and broke the bread.

In this story We recognise the words of Peter: Lord not only my feet, but my whole body. The version here is: “Lord, give us more than a lesson in Scripture. Do not let us alone in this night of ours. Stay with us.... Be our host in our own home.” Their rechewing, the rumination has empowered them and began a process which could no longer be stopped. It is unleashing a life creating power in them, reversing their somberness and giving them new hope.

These two disciples faced an existential crisis. Their world had fallen apart. They were overwhelmed by sadness and by despair. In a gesture of grace, they were given the gift of the divine presence – almost unrecognised by them – and yet, so clearly spelled out in the person of Jesus and in the Words of Scripture. In this dark night of their soul, in their darkest moment, a spark ignited and set their hearts alight in prayer. “Give us more.” “Stay with us.” “Do not leave us, even though night is falling over our world of despair.”

The Spirit often teaches us to pray when we are not able to utter the right words. And the Spirit does this in unexpected ways. When we stay close to God, so close that we can hear God speak to us even though we think God is absent, there is only an empty grave left without someone in sight, the Spirit will touch us in our innermost being and we shall pray without even knowing that we are praying....