“And he shall be known in the breaking of the bread.” He, the Bread.
“Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us?” Yet still they did not recognise him.
I wonder how often that has happened to us? This ancient Gaelic Rune of Hospitality comes from the west Highlands of Scotland:
I saw a stranger yesterday. I put food in the eating place - Drink in the drinking place - Music in the listening place - And in the blessed name of the Triune He blessed myself and my house, My cattle and my dear ones. And the lark said in her song, Often, often, often goes the Christ in the stranger's guise.
Our final reading from Bede’s Life of Cuthbert. We discover, surely with a smile on Bede’s face, that Cuthbert was a useless builder, and the repairs made by Aethilwald, his successor on Farne, weren’t much better. Bede is circumspect about Cuthbert’s involvement in this last miracle; indeed, he is always careful, in every account, to ensure we understand that it is God who performs the miracle. The saints in heaven are merely the ones interceding on our behalf. Here we see the Church, of which Cuthbert was but a part, continuing, working, and praying. And, as Bede says in his closing sentence, “Almighty God, in this present age, is wont to heal many, and, in time to come, will heal all our diseases of mind and body; for he satisfies our desire with good things, and crowns us for ever with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”
Thank you for joining me in this Lenten journey. My prayer is that you have found it helpful in your walk with our Lord. It has been a labour of love. May God’s richest blessing rest on each one of you this Easter. Amen.
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