Most people are familiar with Mother Teresa, and today is her feast day. Her Church name is Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and she lived from 1910 to 1997. The one thing I did not realize about her is that as a Sister of Our Lady of Lareto she was a school teacher for seventeen years. She left teaching to found the Missionaries of Charity and to minister to the poorest of the poor.
Here is a quote about abandoning ourselves into God's hands and the source of our joy as Christians:
"We are at Jesus' disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that's all right, everything is all right. We must say, 'I belong to you. You can do whatever you like.' And this is our strength, and this is the joy of the Lord."

General:
That those who are forced to leave home and country because of war or oppressive regimes may be supported by Christians in the defense and protection of their rights.
Mission:
That faithful to the sacrament of matrimony every Christian family may cultivate the values of love and communion in order to be a small evangelizing community, sensitive and open to the material and spiritual needs of others

My Thoughts: every Christian family is called to a deep love and communion of persons so that it can be a mini-evangelizing community generous in its service to others. We families have a very high calling.

"You Can!
Do you think people are grateful for services rendered only reluctantly? Evidently not. You might even say it would have been better not to have bothered.

And yet you think you can serve God with sour looks? No you can't! You have to serve him cheerfully, in spite of your wretchedness, which we will be able to get rid of with God's grace."

– Saint Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, #308

"The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist."
– Pope St. Gregory the Great

"All who undertake to teach must be endowed with deep love, the greatest of patience, and, most of all, profound humility. They must perform their work with earnest zeal. Then, through their humble prayers, the Lord will find them worthy to become fellow workers with him in the cause of truth. He will console them in the fulfillment of this most noble duty, and finally, will enrich them with the gift of heaven."

This was said by St. Joseph Calasanz who lived from 1556-1648 and counted Galileo as his friend. He left his successful job in the world to become a priest and provide poor children the opportunity for an education. A religious community grew out of his work with the poor, and so he founded the Piarists to educate poor children. Go here to read more.

Today is his feast day.

As a culture, we have all but lost any sense of the third commandment. For most believers in our culture, it seems to mean no more than going to church on Sunday. We have lost the sense of resting, recreating and relishing relationships with family and friends. I enjoyed reading what James said over at his blog.

Dear Young People,

What a delight it is to greet you here at Barangaroo, on the shores of the magnificent Sydney harbour, with its famous bridge and Opera House. Many of you are local, from the outback or the dynamic multicultural communities of Australian cities. Others of you have come from the scattered islands of Oceania, and others still from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Some of you, indeed, have come from as far as I have, Europe! Wherever we are from, we are here at last in Sydney. And together we stand in our world as God’s family, disciples of Christ, empowered by his Spirit to be witnesses of his love and truth for everyone!

I wish firstly to thank the Aboriginal Elders who welcomed me prior to my boarding the boat at Rose Bay. I am deeply moved to stand on your land, knowing the suffering and injustices it has borne, but aware too of the healing and hope that are now at work, rightly bringing pride to all Australian citizens. To the young indigenous - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders - and the Tokelauans, I express my thanks for your stirring welcome. Through you, I send heartfelt greetings to your peoples.

Cardinal Pell and Archbishop Wilson, I thank you for your warm words of welcome. I know that your sentiments resonate in the hearts of the young gathered here this evening, and so I thank you all. Standing before me I see a vibrant image of the universal Church. The variety of nations and cultures from which you hail shows that indeed Christ’s Good News is for everyone; it has reached the ends of the earth. Yet I know too that a good number of you are still seeking a spiritual homeland. Some of you, most welcome among us, are not Catholic or Christian. Others of you perhaps hover at the edge of parish and Church life. To you I wish to offer encouragement: step forward into Christ’s loving embrace; recognize the Church as your home. No one need remain on the outside, for from the day of Pentecost the Church has been one and universal.

This evening I wish also to include those who are not present among us. I am thinking especially of the sick or mentally ill, young people in prison, those struggling on the margins of our societies, and those who for whatever reason feel alienated from the Church. To them I say: Jesus is close to you! Feel his healing embrace, his compassion and mercy!

Almost two thousand years ago, the Apostles, gathered in the upper room together with Mary and some faithful women, were filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14; 2:4). At that extraordinary moment, which gave birth to the Church, the confusion and fear that had gripped Christ’s disciples were transformed into a vigorous conviction and sense of purpose. They felt impelled to speak of their encounter with the risen Jesus whom they had come to call affectionately, the Lord. In many ways, the Apostles were ordinary. None could claim to be the perfect disciple. They failed to recognize Christ (cf. Lk 24:13-32), felt ashamed of their own ambition (cf. Lk 22:24-27), and had even denied him (cf. Lk 22:54-62). Yet, when empowered by the Holy Spirit, they were transfixed by the truth of Christ’s Gospel and inspired to proclaim it fearlessly. Emboldened, they exclaimed: repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:37-38)! Grounded in the Apostles’ teaching, in fellowship, and in the breaking of the bread and prayer (cf. Acts 2:42), the young Christian community moved forward to oppose the perversity in the culture around them (cf. Acts 2:40), to care for one another (cf. Acts 2:44-47), to defend their belief in Jesus in the face of hostility (cf Acts 4:33), and to heal the sick (cf. Acts 5:12-16). And in obedience to Christ’s own command, they set forth, bearing witness to the greatest story ever: that God has become one of us, that the divine has entered human history in order to transform it, and that we are called to immerse ourselves in Christ’s saving love which triumphs over evil and death. Saint Paul, in his famous speech to the Areopagus, introduced the message in this way: "God gives everything – including life and breath – to everyone … so that all nations might seek God and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. In fact he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17: 25-28).

And ever since, men and women have set out to tell the same story, witnessing to Christ’s truth and love, and contributing to the Church’s mission. Today, we think of those pioneering Priests, Sisters and Brothers who came to these shores, and to other parts of the Pacific, from Ireland, France, Britain and elsewhere in Europe. The great majority were young - some still in their late teens - and when they bade farewell to their parents, brothers and sisters, and friends, they knew they were unlikely ever to return home. Their whole lives were a selfless Christian witness. They became the humble but tenacious builders of so much of the social and spiritual heritage which still today brings goodness, compassion and purpose to these nations. And they went on to inspire another generation. We think immediately of the faith which sustained Blessed Mary MacKillop in her sheer determination to educate especially the poor, and Blessed Peter To Rot in his steadfast resolution that community leadership must always include the Gospel. Think also of your own grandparents and parents, your first teachers in faith. They too have made countless sacrifices of time and energy, out of love for you. Supported by your parish priests and teachers, they have the task, not always easy but greatly satisfying, of guiding you towards all that is good and true, through their own witness - their teaching and living of our Christian faith.

Today, it is my turn. For some of us, it might seem like we have come to the end of the world! For people of your age, however, any flight is an exciting prospect. But for me, this one was somewhat daunting! Yet the views afforded of our planet from the air were truly wondrous. The sparkle of the Mediterranean, the grandeur of the north African desert, the lushness of Asia’s forestation, the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, the horizon upon which the sun rose and set, and the majestic splendour of Australia’s natural beauty which I have been able to enjoy these last couple of days; these all evoke a profound sense of awe. It is as though one catches glimpses of the Genesis creation story - light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the waters, the earth, and living creatures; all of which are "good" in God’s eyes (cf. Gen 1:1 - 2:4). Immersed in such beauty, who could not echo the words of the Psalmist in praise of the Creator: "how majestic is your name in all the earth?" (Ps 8:1).

And there is more – something hardly perceivable from the sky – men and women, made in nothing less than God’s own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26). At the heart of the marvel of creation are you and I, the human family "crowned with glory and honour" (Ps 8:5). How astounding! With the Psalmist we whisper: "what is man that you are mindful of him?" (Ps 8:4). And drawn into silence, into a spirit of thanksgiving, into the power of holiness, we ponder.

What do we discover? Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world’s mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption. Some of you come from island nations whose very existence is threatened by rising water levels; others from nations suffering the effects of devastating drought. God’s wondrous creation is sometimes experienced as almost hostile to its stewards, even something dangerous. How can what is "good" appear so threatening?

And there is more. What of man, the apex of God’s creation? Every day we encounter the genius of human achievement. From advances in medical sciences and the wise application of technology, to the creativity reflected in the arts, the quality and enjoyment of people’s lives in many ways are steadily rising. Among yourselves there is a readiness to take up the plentiful opportunities offered to you. Some of you excel in studies, sport, music, or dance and drama, others of you have a keen sense of social justice and ethics, and many of you take up service and voluntary work. All of us, young and old, have those moments when the innate goodness of the human person - perhaps glimpsed in the gesture of a little child or an adult’s readiness to forgive - fills us with profound joy and gratitude.

Yet such moments do not last. So again, we ponder. And we discover that not only the natural but also the social environment – the habitat we fashion for ourselves – has its scars; wounds indicating that something is amiss. Here too, in our personal lives and in our communities, we can encounter a hostility, something dangerous; a poison which threatens to corrode what is good, reshape who we are, and distort the purpose for which we have been created. Examples abound, as you yourselves know. Among the more prevalent are alcohol and drug abuse, and the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, often presented through television and the internet as entertainment. I ask myself, could anyone standing face to face with people who actually do suffer violence and sexual exploitation "explain" that these tragedies, portrayed in virtual form, are considered merely "entertainment"?

There is also something sinister which stems from the fact that freedom and tolerance are so often separated from truth. This is fuelled by the notion, widely held today, that there are no absolute truths to guide our lives. Relativism, by indiscriminately giving value to practically everything, has made "experience" all-important. Yet, experiences, detached from any consideration of what is good or true, can lead, not to genuine freedom, but to moral or intellectual confusion, to a lowering of standards, to a loss of self-respect, and even to despair.

Dear friends, life is not governed by chance; it is not random. Your very existence has been willed by God, blessed and given a purpose (cf. Gen 1:28)! Life is not just a succession of events or experiences, helpful though many of them are. It is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this – in truth, in goodness, and in beauty – that we find happiness and joy. Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.

Christ offers more! Indeed he offers everything! Only he who is the Truth can be the Way and hence also the Life. Thus the "way" which the Apostles brought to the ends of the earth is life in Christ. This is the life of the Church. And the entrance to this life, to the Christian way, is Baptism.

This evening I wish therefore to recall briefly something of our understanding of Baptism before tomorrow considering the Holy Spirit. On the day of your Baptism, God drew you into his holiness (cf. 2 Pet 1:4). You were adopted as a son or daughter of the Father. You were incorporated into Christ. You were made a dwelling place of his Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). Baptism is neither an achievement, nor a reward. It is a grace; it is God’s work. Indeed, towards the conclusion of your Baptism, the priest turned to your parents and those gathered and, calling you by your name said: "you have become a new creation" (Rite of Baptism, 99).

Dear friends, in your homes, schools and universities, in your places of work and recreation, remember that you are a new creation! Not only do you stand before the Creator in awe, rejoicing at his works, you also realize that the sure foundation of humanity’s solidarity lies in the common origin of every person, the high-point of God’s creative design for the world. As Christians you stand in this world knowing that God has a human face - Jesus Christ - the "way" who satisfies all human yearning, and the "life" to which we are called to bear witness, walking always in his light (cf. ibid., 100).

The task of witness is not easy. There are many today who claim that God should be left on the sidelines, and that religion and faith, while fine for individuals, should either be excluded from the public forum altogether or included only in the pursuit of limited pragmatic goals. This secularist vision seeks to explain human life and shape society with little or no reference to the Creator. It presents itself as neutral, impartial and inclusive of everyone. But in reality, like every ideology, secularism imposes a world-view. If God is irrelevant to public life, then society will be shaped in a godless image, and debate and policy concerning the public good will be driven more by consequences than by principles grounded in truth.

Yet experience shows that turning our back on the Creator’s plan provokes a disorder which has inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created order (cf. 1990 World Day of Peace Message, 5). When God is eclipsed, our ability to recognize the natural order, purpose, and the "good" begins to wane. What was ostensibly promoted as human ingenuity soon manifests itself as folly, greed and selfish exploitation. And so we have become more and more aware of our need for humility before the delicate complexity of God’s world.

But what of our social environment? Are we equally alert to the signs of turning our back on the moral structure with which God has endowed humanity (cf. 2007 World Day of Peace Message, 8)? Do we recognize that the innate dignity of every individual rests on his or her deepest identity - as image of the Creator - and therefore that human rights are universal, based on the natural law, and not something dependent upon negotiation or patronage, let alone compromise? And so we are led to reflect on what place the poor and the elderly, immigrants and the voiceless, have in our societies. How can it be that domestic violence torments so many mothers and children? How can it be that the most wondrous and sacred human space – the womb – has become a place of unutterable violence?

My dear friends, God’s creation is one and it is good. The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God himself and thus inviolable. Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises. Our hearts and minds are yearning for a vision of life where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. This is the work of the Holy Spirit! This is the hope held out by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to bear witness to this reality that you were created anew at Baptism and strengthened through the gifts of the Spirit at Confirmation. Let this be the message that you bring from Sydney to the world!

On Tuesday, July 8th, Hadley Arkes wrote this article entitled: Political Distraction Among the Catholics.

This is how it begins:

"Is it a certain madness, a certain distraction of mind, induced by the sudden onset of summer heat? The polls in early June find Barack Obama notably behind among Evangelicals and whites, but--wonder of wonders--actually holding a slight edge, of a point or two, among Catholics.

Some of our readers know that I was associated with the drafting of the “most modest first step of all on abortion,” the bill to preserve the life of the child who survived an abortion. It was called, in that awful legislative style, the Born-Alive Infants’ Protection Act. When it finally passed the Congress in 2002, not a single Democrat in Congress voted in opposition. But Barack Obama, as a Senator in Illinois, actually led the opposition to the comparable measure in that state, and as the chairman of a legislative committee managed to kill it. How does one explain then this close division among Catholics, with a tilt actually in his favor? And what is the worse account: that most Catholics in the country simply do not know about his radical, pro-abortion position, or that American Catholics by now have heard about Obama’s position, and they don’t especially care?"

Go here to read the rest.

My good friend is moving on to Saint Agnes is Saint Paul; I want to preserve some of his posts here on my site.

The first article is about Pope Pius XI on Catholic education:

In 1929--the same year in which the stock market crashed here in the United States--Pope Pius XI wrote the encyclical Divini Illius Magistri on Christian education. My junior high Latin students could tell you that a literal translation of the title would read "Of that Divine Teacher," referring, of course, to our Lord--the master of all teachers.


Pius XI The document is certainly worth reading in its entirety. Below I offer my readers but one small portion of that great work which highlights the necessity of allowing the Catholic faith to penetrate the whole of a school's existence, and not merely its religion classes.

The mere fact that a school gives some religious instruction (often extremely stinted), does not bring it into accord with the rights of the Church and of the Christian family, or make it a fit place for Catholic students. To be this, it is necessary that all the teaching and the whole organization of the school, and its teachers, syllabus and text-books in every branch, be regulated by the Christian spirit, under the direction and maternal supervision of the Church; so that Religion may be in very truth the foundation and crown of the youth's entire training; and this in every grade of school, not only the elementary, but the intermediate and the higher institutions of learning as well. To use the words of Leo XIII:

"It is necessary not only that religious instruction be given to the young at certain fixed times, but also that every other subject taught, be permeated with Christian piety. If this is wanting, if this sacred atmosphere does not pervade and warm the hearts of masters and scholars alike, little good can be expected from any kind of learning, and considerable harm will often be the consequence."

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The second article:

The Kind of Student Essay You'll Never See Displayed on the Wall of a Public School


Sunday, February 24, 2008, 04:20 PM
"If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

One of my sixth grade history students made a very interesting insight in a recent writing assignment. She noted that since everyone in medieval Europe shared a common faith in Christianity, that same Christian faith was not in any way divorced from medieval education. She further noted that in our own age, which deeply lacks that kind of spiritual unity, it is not at all uncommon for schools completely to ignore, or even to prohibit, the discussion of religion altogether.

She’s right, of course, and I’m afraid she has only scratched the surface of the issue. Religion is not the only subject which gets shortchanged at a non-Catholic school. In a very real sense, our Catholic faith influences the way that we approach every single subject. I am constantly reminded of this as I teach history. I’m not sure what the standard treatment of the medieval period looks like at a public school, but I am certain that it is very different from the sort of treatment it receives here at Holy Family Academy. And that is just one very obvious example.

Yesterday I started reading a batch of essays written by the seventh grade history students. They are currently working on an American civics unit, and for the last couple of days they’ve been considering the role of the Supreme Court within the scope of American government. Specifically they’ve been considering the whole problem of judicial activism. Their most recent assignment was to describe the nature of the problem in a paragraph essay. As I was reading these yesterday, it occurred to me that, should HFA be a public school instead of a private Catholic school, the seventh grade students would probably never broach the topic of judicial activism, because the subject would be seen as too politically contentious.

That is not something we worry about too much at Holy Family Academy, since we possess here a broad moral consensus which allows us to see eye-to-eye on important moral and political issues. It is exactly for this reason that we have absolutely no ambivalence whatsoever arguing that Roe vs. Wade was an abominable Supreme Court decision. And that is a very important thing, of course.

In hearty celebration of our broad moral consensus, I offer you a brief sample of seventh grade student writing from Holy Family Academy on the topic of judicial activism. I give you the essay entirely as it was when I first read it—completely unedited. I doubt you’ll ever see an essay like this in proud display at a public school.

“Judicial activism is when the Supreme Court judges legislate, or kill a law for the poor reason of not liking it. They shouldn’t be able to do this because it is not what the Framers intended them to do; the judges are supposed to care about the constitutionality of the law. When they reject a law, they say it is unconstitutional, but many times their argument has an insufficient basis. For example, in the case of Roe vs. Wade, the judges claimed it was a “right to privacy” to have the right to an abortion, when really, because there is no mention of abortion in the Constitution, it should be in the hands of the states. Because of judicial activism, or judicial veto, the Supreme Court has more power than it should possess.”

I last wrote more than two weeks ago about Joseph Epstein's article on Kindergarchy in The Weekly Standard. I have since read the entire article, about a week ago, and I will give you a few of my thoughts from my memory.

His main point is that in today's world, kids are in charge. We don't live under a monarchy or an oligarchy but a kindergarchy. He spends the majority of his article talking about how he and others of his generation of baby-boomers grew up. Kids in his day were not the focus of attention and were given much freedom: he himself made all decisions about his education from age ten on, and when his parents went on vacation, they always went alone, leaving Joseph and his brother at home with a sitter. Kids back then had to make their own way, make their own decisions, and slowly come into a role of significance by earning it through patient perseverance.

His main issue with parents today is that they are far too involved in their children's lives, are far too controlling of what their children are doing, give far too much decision-making power to their children for what the family will do, and are much too easy on them, oftentimes coddling them, afraid to damage their children's delicate and all-important self-esteem.

I don't find his writing to be all that lucid or logical. He does not distinguish his points very well and often seems to be contradicting himself. Or maybe I am just a lazy reader. As I try to give order to his thoughts and points, I think I agree with some of what he is saying, and I disagree with some points, and some points I probably just plain missed.

I don't think it is just a matter between choosing involvement or non-involvement in one's children's lives. He is saying over-involvement is bad and little involvement is good. It is more complicated than that. I see children as a garden or a fruit tree which benefit from intelligent and regular and careful care. I am not going to manicure a perfect garden or a perfect fruit tree or a perfect child--that would be over involvement and more about me than about anything else. But I do want to be highly involved at the right times and in the right manner to facilitate optimum growth, self-confidence, and personal responsibility. Leaving the garden go to weed and seed is not a healthy garden; it may still do ok, but it is not what it could be; that seems to be the model he is advocating.


He thinks kids today think too highly of themselves and of their importance. I want my kids to know that apart from God and my wife, they are the most important people in my life. In that sense, I want them to think of themselves as extremely important. On the other hand, and this is where a large family comes in handy, they are not the center of my universe, or even of my family. They are not even the center of the other children. They are part of a larger group, and what they want at any particular moment is usually not what is going to happen. I want them to get accustomed to disappointments; they should not expect to always or often get what they want. Learning delayed gratification is important for maturity.

In a segment from what I quoted last entry, Joseph stated, "...Catholic education hadn't become indistinguishable from secular education." Back in the good old days when Catholic education was Catholic education and students were challenged and forced to learn Latin, and Catholic education was significantly different from any other type of education, the best students were a product of Catholic education. The high standards were set, and the students rose to meet and exceed those standards. This is the kind of language I like. I love a highly challenging, thoroughly Catholic in every respect, vigorous Catholic education. So many times I have seen students rise to the challenge of very high expectations to become some of the very best students, who loved to learn, loved to be challenged, and had real self-esteem because it was earned with their own sweat and tears.

Education is hard work. That is because life is hard work. We are preparing students for real life. Coddling kids and making them the center of attention does them no service. Thinking kids are perfect and whatever they want they should have and never telling them no ruins them. Usually the ones responsible for kids being too soft, too self-centered, spoiled and with a bad attitude is the parents who treat their kids like kings. Real self-esteem and maturity are the fruit of thinking enough of the kids to expect much from them together with giving them the encouragement they need by believing that they are able to achieve the seemingly-impossible goal. Kids love a challenge.

In an article by Joseph Epstein called “The Kindergarchy: Every child a dauphin," there is an interesting paragraph on old-school Catholic education. I admit, I have not read the whole article yet, but I will soon. I will read it and then give some thoughts on it, too.

Here is the paragraph which comes toward the end of the article:

“The most impressive students I had over my 30 years of university teaching were those I encountered when I first began, in the early 1970s, who almost all turned out to have been put through Catholic schools, during a time when priests and nuns still taught and Catholic education hadn't become indistinguishable from secular education. Many of these kids resented what they felt was the excessive constraint, with an element of fear added, of their education. Most failed to realize that it was this very constraint--and maybe a touch of the fear, too--that forced them to learn Latin, to acquire and understand grammar, to pick up the rudiments of arguing well, that had made them as smart as they were. “

Go to my other blog to read the Holy Father's message, followed by my thoughts.

The first student wrote about the presentation of the gifts at Mass and about thanking God for receiving the Eucharist:

At every Mass we offer ourselves up to God. We do this when we say, “We lift them up to the Lord.” We also give Jesus our hearts when we say this. When at Mass, we exchange our hearts with Jesus. When we receive communion, we are actually receiving Jesus’ heart….There are many things for the Presentation of the Gifts. There are bread, water, wine, ourselves, and most importantly, our hearts.

We should always give thanks to God, no matter what the situation is. We should give thanks even if something bad has happened. We usually don’t think about thanking Jesus for giving us the chance to receive Him everyday. One time Jesus cured ten lepers. After that, only one of them thanked Jesus. Just think, if you give somebody your heart in communion and they don’t even thank you for it! How would that make you feel?

Another student wrote about the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus when they met Jesus:

Jesus appeared to two of his disciples while they were on their way to Emmaus. They didn’t recognize him; He opened the scriptures to them and explained what they meant. They didn’t recognize him until they were eating and he broke the bread and blessed it. When they recognized him, he disappeared. When he disappeared, they said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures” (Luke 24:32). Jesus explained the scriptures to them to prepare them for receiving the Eucharist. It is the same at every Mass. We are read the first reading, Psalm, epistle, and Gospel to open our hearts and prepare us for receiving the Eucharist; just like Jesus did on the road to Emmaus.