April 19, 2013

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Friday of the Third Week of Easter 
Lectionary: 277

Reading 1ACTS 9:1-20

Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,

went to the high priest and asked him

for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that,

if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,

he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. 

On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus,

a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. 

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

He said, “Who are you, sir?” 

The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 

Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” 

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,

for they heard the voice but could see no one.

Saul got up from the ground,

but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;

so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.

For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

The past few days we have followed the preaching and martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first Catholic martyr.  There was also a footnote in the text which read, "They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul" (Acts 7:58).  

Then, another mention of Saul a bit later, "Now Saul was consenting to his execution…..Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church;* entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment" (Acts 8:1-3).

This the same Saul which Jesus knocks off his high horse and instructs to go to Damascus.  

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias,

and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” 

He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 

The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight

and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.

He is there praying,

and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias

come in and lay his hands on him,

that he may regain his sight.”

But Ananias replied,

“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,

what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.

And here he has authority from the chief priests

to imprison all who call upon your name.” 

But the Lord said to him,

“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine

to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel,

and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.” 

So Ananias went and entered the house;

laying his hands on him, he said,

“Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,

Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,

that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes

and he regained his sight. 

He got up and was baptized,

and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength.

He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus,

and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,

that he is the Son of God.

Then Jesus appeared to Ananias and instructed him to baptize Saul.  You can imagine why St. Ananias was so concerned that he thought maybe Jesus had made a mistake.  So, Ananias does as he is told and Saul is baptized, calling on the name of the Lord and washing away his sins.

At this point, things become very interesting.  Because the same zeal which Saul had for the Old Mosaic Law, he now transfers to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   

Responsorial PsalmPS 117:1BC, 2

R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.

All of us who know of the goodness of God should praise the Lord.  And the best vehicle to do so is the Mass. Where, with one voice and one mind, the entire Body of Christ throughout the world, sing praises to God who saved us.

GospelJN 6:52-59

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,

“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?” 

Jesus said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,

you do not have life within you. 

Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him on the last day.

For my Flesh is true food,

and my Blood is true drink. 

Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood

remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living Father sent me

and I have life because of the Father,

so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 

This is the bread that came down from heaven. 

Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,

whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 

These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

The past few days we've been following Jesus as He fed the five thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fish and then walked on the water and miraculously brought the boat to shore.  Then the crowd followed Him in order that He might feed them again.  All of this led up to the revelation of the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, which is the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ which we must eat and eating, live forever.  

"Word made flesh, by Word He maketh Very bread his flesh to be; Man in wine Christ's Blood partaketh, And if his senses fail to see, Faith alone the true heart waketh, To behold the mystery."  St. Thomas Aquinas.