Four of us Maryknollers went to Cheongju yesterday for our monthly Emmaus Day. It is a time to be with each other in prayer and fellowship in the presence of Jesus. Chapter 24 of Luke has the incident where unknowingly two disciples were accompanied by Jesus on there way to Emmaus. The origin of the name comes from this incident. .
The day begins with prayer, we then take turns sharing what we have done for the past month and after the meal we spend time talking about an article that was given to us to reflect on before the Emmaus Day.
We usually meet at the Seoul House but yesterday we went to the Peace and Joy Center in Nai Su where one of the Maryknollers is working with the severely mentally handicapped. He has four young men who attend the center each day and there are two teachers who take care of the daily program.The young men spend time with the teachers in different projects that help adapt them to life at home and in society. They eat together and then take a walk. They come together again for another learning session, and around 4:30 they return to their homes.
You have three persons involved with the care and education of these four young men. If one wants to see love in action I can't think of a better object lesson. You are not going to get any thanks for the effort and you are not going to see great results. But you do see the value of each person and his dignity before God, in a very concrete way. I am certain that all those who spend time watching the transaction between teachers and the mentally disabled can't help but be moved.
After spending about an hour at the center we went to the Maryknoller's apartment for the sharing but the time spend at the center, short as it was , for me was the most important part of the Emmaus Day.
