April 18, 2013

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Thursday of the Third Week of Easter 
Lectionary: 276

Reading 1ACTS 8:26-40

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,
“Get up and head south on the road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”
So he got up and set out.
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,
a court official of the Candace,
that is, the queen of the Ethiopians,
in charge of her entire treasury,
who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home.
Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip,
“Go and join up with that chariot.”
Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,
“Do you understand what you are reading?”
He replied,
“How can I, unless someone instructs me?”
So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
This was the Scripture passage he was reading:

Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life is taken from the earth.

Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply,
“I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?
About himself, or about someone else?”
Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage,
he proclaimed Jesus to him.
As they traveled along the road
they came to some water,
and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water.
What is to prevent my being baptized?”
Then he ordered the chariot to stop,
and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water,
and he baptized him.
When they came out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more,
but continued on his way rejoicing.
Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news
to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

St. Philip, who had been preaching and producing mighty signs in Samaria, is now sent by the Holy Spirit to the road heading to Gaza.  There, he encounters an Egyptian Eunuch.  This Eunuch has gone to Jerusalem on official business from the Egyptian Queen.  En route, he is reading the Old Testament Scriptures where it speaks of the Messiah being crucified as a sheep being led to the slaughter.  But the Eunuch doesn't understand what he is reading.  So, St. Philip explains it to him but also shows how this Scripture has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  And the Eunuch immediately believes him and asks to be baptized in Jesus' name.  

Responsorial PsalmPS 66:8-9, 16-17, 20

R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Who could have imagined that God would take flesh and die for our salvation?  Even today, people do not believe that God would do that.  But we believe and believing we obey His commands in order that His death not be in vain.  Therefore, rejoice and be glad, because by His stripes we have been healed!  Alleluiah!

GospelJN 6:44-51

Jesus said to the crowds:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my Flesh for the life of the world.”

God wants us to be saved:   

1 Timothy 2:4
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.   

But because of the deceit in our heart, we have trouble repenting and turning to Him with faith.  And this is what it will take in order for us to be justified, washed of our sins and thereby saved.  Believing in Him, we must receive the Sacraments wherein, according to our faith, God will wash us of our sins and bring us into His Kingdom.