Biography
Joseph Cardinal Bernadin, the Archbishop of Chicago, is a gifted and remarkable man. His thoughtful leadership has raised our nation's awareness of the difficult issues behind the nuclear arms race and the economic problems faced by our nation's poor. A wonderful recognition of his work for peace was his receipt of the Albert Einstein Peace Prize. [Biographical information is correct as of the broadcast date noted above.]

"The Journey To Mature Discipleship" 
Contemporary life is fast-paced, complex, and sometimes disorienting. Our restless generation races from one experience to another, from an event to its sequel. We sometimes seem to be driven in search of something which we find difficult to identify with precision or explain with conviction. As we look for meaning in life, for happiness, or for a sense of peace and harmony, our frantic quest often becomes a vicious circle. The more we search, the more we seem to be lost.

My life is not so very different from your own. My specific responsibilities as a pastor may vary from yours, but I face the same basic human issues as you. I get caught up in the maelstrom of my work or ministry. I am sometimes bewildered and perplexed by rapid changes in society, both at home and around the world. It's no secret that I live—by reason of my office and, some tell me, by my very nature—in the "fast lane". It's just as easy for me to lose my way on our common Christian pilgrimage as it is for anyone else.

Like you, I have sometimes wondered, "Is this all there is to life?" My thirty-six years as a priest and twenty-two as a bishop have been marked by a search for the Lord, by a sincere concern to live my life in accordance with His gospel. But, so often, my search seemed to lead me into darkness rather than light. I felt buffeted and bombarded by problems associated with my ministry. I often felt I was walking alone.

Then one day I encountered the Emmaus story in a new way, and it had a profound impact on my life. I'd like to share with you some of what I have learned from this beautiful gospel narrative. It has many vivid human touches and insights into human behavior. Although the story itself is a model of simplicity, its meaning is quite profound. Let us reflect upon it for a few moments.

Two of Jesus' disciples are journeying from Jerusalem to Emmaus two days after the crucifixion. As they walk, they discuss the events of the previous week. The journey provides adequate time, and neutral space, to reflect upon what had happened in Jerusalem the last few days. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that they are quite disillusioned. Like the other disciples, they did not clearly hear or fully understand Jesus' earlier predictions about His death and His resurrection. They are perplexed and confused. Disbelief has overpowered them. They are leaving Jerusalem and its disturbing events because, for them, Jesus' death was an unmitigated tragedy.

Then Jesus joins them on their journey, but they do not recognize him. There is always something mysterious about a stranger, but the two disciples do not begin to fathom the depth of the mystery they have just encountered. The crucified and risen Lord asks them about their animated discussion, and, naturally, they are surprised that anyone would not be familiar with the events which had occurred in Jerusalem the previous week. Cleopas, indeed, expresses great astonishment that the stranger seems not to have heard about them. The two disciples then begin to describe the key events in Jesus' life, not realizing that they are telling the stranger about Himself.

Their incorrect interpretation of the events reveals their distorted messianic expectations—the very kinds of expectations that Jesus constantly sought to dispel from His followers. These rigid religious expectations prevent them from seeing Him as one who lives and walks with them. They are obsessed with recent events—which they did not expect, despite Jesus' earlier predictions. And their interpretation of the events is so colored by their distorting lenses, they do not recognize the risen Lord in their midst. Their story is about disillusionment and bewilderment, about disappointment and failure.

The two disciples also share some reports which they had received that very morning about the empty tomb. The astonishing thing is that they do not know what to make of them. They can repeat statements, of course, and possibly even consider them accurate. But, for them, at this traumatic moment, their significance is lost on them. Their hearts are slow to believe.

Then Jesus takes the initiative and, in effect, begins to tell His own story. Exposing their lack of understanding and faith, His main point is a rhetorical question: "Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this so as to enter into His glory?" He reviews the Old Testament scriptures. It's all there in the tradition, but their minds and hearts have been blinded. The picture Jesus paints of the Jerusalem events is radically different. It ends, not with failure, but with triumph over death, with glory!

At this point in the journey, they are near Emmaus. When Jesus acts as if He were going farther, they earnestly invite Him to spend the night with them. He has shared His story with them, so they offer Him hospitality. They open their hearts to Him in love, and, when they are seated at table, Jesus responds in love. The Guest becomes the Host!

In the table fellowship, the two disciples recognize that the Stranger is, in fact, a dear friend. For, when Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and distributes it to them, their eyes are opened in recognition of the Lord. He reveals Himself to them in silence, in eucharistic gestures, as He did at the Last Supper. In the breaking of the bread, Jesus reveals Himself to them as One who gives Himself totally to them.

Then He immediately vanishes from their sight—but not from their hearts! He disappears physically, but He remains present in their midst—in the word and in the fellowship of His table.

Their first reaction is to acknowledge that their hearts were burning as He explained the Scriptures to them. The fire had not altogether been extinguished by the disillusioning events of the previous week. Jesus has fanned the fragile spark into a strong flame—a flame of new life and love.

Now they have a new story to tell. They not only see Jesus differently, they also see themselves in a new way. They are not ex-followers of a dead prophet, but disciples of the risen Lord. That is why their second reaction to this encounter is to return to Jerusalem, despite the late hour, to give witness about their experience. They spread the fire in their hearts to the Eleven and the others assembled in the Upper Room. There they learn that their experience of the risen Lord is not unique. Peter has also seen Him. They review what happened on their journey and, especially, how they came to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

The journey to Emmaus begins in blindness, gloom, disillusionment and despair. It ends with the warming of the disciples' hearts, the opening of their eyes, and their return to Jerusalem. It begins with the shattering of an immature faith and ends with the disciples giving witness to a mature faith. Their story now is a new one—a story filled with life and hope.

The Emmaus narrative explains how Christians come to understand, how they move from ignorance to knowledge. The two disciples come to recognize Jesus both in the unfolding of Scripture and the breaking of bread. Jesus' explanation that the Messiah's death was necessary does not trigger an immediate recognition of who the Stranger is. This happens only in His free gesture of breaking the bread.

For St. Luke, the Christian life in not a solitary, melancholic journey. Christians follow Christ in full assurance that He has not abandoned them but will lead them through grief and suffering to glory. Each of us is challenged to decide where to stand on the road: among the perplexed and disillusioned who have doubting hearts and blinded eyes—or among those who listen attentively, see clearly, and respond appropriately to Jesus' own story. Scripture must be read—not with a slow, doubting heart but with a responsive heart. It is Jesus Himself who makes our hearts burn and opens our eyes.

For St. Luke, the Christian life is described as the Way. Christians must journey towards Jerusalem just as Jesus did. Conversely, to leave Jerusalem is to go the wrong way, for it leads us away from the Lord.

The journey to Jerusalem—the pilgrimage to the site of the cross and the resurrection—remains essential to the Christian life. It cannot be avoided. To be an authentic Christian, one cannot walk away from Jerusalem and abandon hope. We must also believe in the risen Lord. When we have done both of these tasks, and have also received the gift of God's Spirit in Jerusalem, then we too receive the mission of telling Jesus' story "to the ends of the earth."

As I intimated earlier, the Emmaus story has had a significant impact on my life. As I reflected upon it in prayer, I began to realize how often I looked elsewhere for the Lord rather than right in the midst of each day's journey! I became aware that often I sought escape from the difficulties and sufferings which I encountered daily in my ministry. I tended to think that my ministry was mine alone, rather than the Lord's.

In light of the Emmaus story, all of us come to recognize that we do not walk alone! The Lord Jesus is with us. Through His word He helps us keep on the right path. Through the breaking of bread each day He feeds the deepest hungers of our heart and spirit.

Our search for the Lord continues, of course, but we need no longer search so far and wide. Our quest takes us into the deep recesses of our hearts where we learn to be still and listen to the Lord speaking to us in the events and people around us. The Emmaus story helps us understand the Lord's presence where, often before, we had experienced His absence.

From this beautiful story we also learn to recognize Jesus in the "strangers" we encounter on our journey, that is, in our fellow pilgrims, in all our brothers and sisters. They share our search, our weaknesses, and our deepest desires, even though sometimes they may not recognize this. From some of them we learn more about the Lord Jesus and His Gospel. To others we proclaim the new story, the Good News, which we have heard and continue to hear.

As Christians, our spiritual journey constantly brings us back to Jerusalem, to the death and resurrection of Jesus which gives meaning to all that we are and do. Strengthened by God's Spirit, we wish to proclaim to all people the wonders of the Lord, the love He has for each of us.

I am particularly grateful for this opportunity to share with you an important episode in the story of Jesus. My prayer for you is that you will find it in your own story, as I have.

Interview with Joseph Bernadin
Interviewed by Dave Hardin

Dave Hardin: Now, let's visit with tonight's speaker, Cardinal Bernadin. It's really nice to have you with us, Joseph. I recently read an article that I was very moved by in U.S. Catholic, tell us something about what you were saying in that interview about prayer.

Joseph Bernadin: The article that you are referring to appeared in the last year or so. And the editors of U.S. Catholic, I think, were very eager to know about my own spiritual journey, my own prayer life. They wanted to share that with their readers. I kind of hesitated at first, wondering if I should do it or not. But then I decided that I would.

I think that one of the principle points that I wanted to make, at least by way of an introduction, was that I'm no different from anyone else. Sometimes people will approach a Bishop or a priest or a minister and because they are "into" religion in kind of a professional way, these people will think that they've got it all put together. But that's not really the way it is. We are all pilgrims together in this journey that we call life. So I was very eager to share with the readers of U.S. Catholic my own spiritual journey.

One of the first things that I talked about was the fact that as a busy person - and all of us are busy these days - that somehow I began thinking that my work was my prayer. I was too busy doing good things, frequently for other people, and for this reason I didn't have the time to step aside and enter into a prayerful relationship with the Lord. But I kept talking about the need for developing a deeper spirituality - a more intense prayer life - but I was too busy. One day someone said to me, "Well if you really mean what you say, why don't you do something about it?"

I was really taken aback when this person, much younger than I, said this to me. But then I said, "You know, that person is right. After all, if you really think something is important then you will give priority to it."

The first thing that I had to do was to make time for prayer. Time is one of our most precious commodities. And I started to make time by getting up earlier in the morning, because it's early in the morning that I have a little time to myself - I'm not bombarded by telephone calls or urgent visits of various kinds. And that's how I got started.
Sometimes people feel that they don't know how to pray well, they don't get a great deal of satisfaction
out of prayer and they become discouraged. That happened to me, too; it still happens to me. But what I say is this, "Lord, this is your time, I'm not going to use it for myself and I'm not going to give it to anybody else. So even if I'm not all that successful, from a human point of view, in my prayer, none-the-less, you know that I love you, you know that I consider you the most important person in my life, and this time is yours." I think that when we look upon prayer in that way and when we make time for it, I think that helps a great deal.

Another thing that I think helps, and I shared this with the readers of U.S. Catholic is that so frequently we think of God as someone who is way out there so how do we enter into an intimate relationship with someone who is so far away, so removed? But, actually, God is right in our midst. He works in us and through us. We see God at work in the events and people around us. I think that when we begin to understand that God is so close then it's much easier to talk with Him, to listen to Him, to enter into a very intimate relationship with Him.

These are just some of the ideas that I wanted to share with the readers of that magazine.