Accompanying the Young – the Emmaus Model
The Emmaus episode (Lk 24:13-35) is one typical episode that John presents where the Accompanying God comes to the fore in the person of Jesus! Jesus presents a series of challenging lessons to every person who wants to accompany the young – it could be the youth workers who work with and for the young, or the parents who are engaged in the all important task of bringing up the young or the educators who play the role of second parents!
Lesson 1: You take the INITIATIVE (v.15)
The Bishop on his annual canonical visit asked the priests of the parish ‘why isn’t there any youngster in the church campus?’ The priests had a long list of reasons to say why the youngsters don’t come to the church or to the priests! But when the Bishop retorted with, ‘they don’t come to you but have you ever gone to them?’, there was a perfect silence.
Jesus takes the initiative and asks the two who were on their way engrossed in their conversation! Jesus was not at all on the receiving end. He had everything to give – light, vision and clarity about things happening around them, the life that they thought they had lost, the hope that they had given up – Jesus alone could give these. In spite of this fact, it was Jesus who took the initiative not waiting for them to call on Him. Even if, and especially if, it is I who has something worth to offer, I need to take the initiative.
