Friday
of the Third Week of Easter
Lectionary: 277
Lectionary: 277
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
AlleluiaJN 6:56
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood,
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood,
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.
“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.
Meditation:
"He who eats this bread will live forever"
Why did Jesus offer
himself as "food and drink"? The Jews were scandalized and the
disciples were divided when Jesus said "unless you eat my flesh
and drink my blood, you have no life in you." What a hard saying,
unless you understand who Jesus is and why he calls himself the bread
of life. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (John 6:3-13),
when Jesus said the blessing, broke and distributed the loaves through his
disciples to feed the multitude, is a sign that prefigured the superabundance
of the unique bread of the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. The Gospel of John has
no account of the Last Supper meal (just the foot washing ceremony and Jesus'
farewell discourse). Instead, John quotes extensively from Jesus' teaching on
the bread of life.
In the Old Covenant
bread and wine were offered in a thanksgiving sacrifice as a sign of grateful
acknowledgment to the Creator as the giver and sustainer of life. Melchizedek,
who was both a priest and king (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-4), offered a
sacrifice of bread and wine. His offering prefigured the offering made by
Jesus, our high priest and king (Hebrews 7:26; 9:11; 10:12). The remembrance of
the manna in the wilderness recalled to the people of Israel that they live -
not by earthly bread alone - but by the bread of the Word of God (Deuteronomy
8:3).
At the last supper when
Jesus blessed the cup of wine, he gave it to his disciples saying, "Drink
of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Jesus was pointing
to the sacrifice he was about to make on the cross, when he would shed his
blood for us - thus pouring himself out and giving himself to us - as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world. His death on the
cross fulfilled the sacrifice of the paschal (passover) lamb whose blood spared
the Israelites from death in Egypt.
Paul the Apostle tells
us that "Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed" (1
Corinthians5:7). Paul echoes the words of John the Baptist who called Jesus the
"Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John
1:29). Jesus made himself an offering and sacrifice, a gift that
was truly pleasing to the Father. He "offered himself without blemish
to God" (Hebrews 9:14) and "gave himself as a sacrifice
to God" (Ephesians 5:2).
Jesus chose the time of
the Jewish Feast of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum -
giving his disciples his body and his blood as the true bread of heaven. Jesus'
passing over to his Father by his death and resurrection - the new passover -
is anticipated in the Last Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist or Lord's
Supper, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover
of the church in the glory of God's kingdom. When the Lord Jesus commands his
disciples to eat his flesh and drink his blood, he invites us to take his life
into the very center of our being. That life which he offers is the very life
of God himself. Do you hunger for the bread of life?
"Lord Jesus, you
nourish and sustain us with your very own presence and life-giving word. You
are the bread of life - the heavenly food that sustains us now and that
produces everlasting life within us. May I always hunger for you and be
satisfied in you alone."
Daily Quote from the
early church fathers: Abiding in Christ, by Augustine of
Hippo, 354-430
A.D.
" Jesus recommended
to us His Body and Blood in bread and wine, elements that are reduced into one
out of many constituents. What is meant by eating that food and taking that
drink is this: to remain in Christ and have Him remaining in us." (excerpt from Sermon
on John 26,112)
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, JOHN 6:52-59
Easter Weekday
(Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 117)
Easter Weekday
(Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 117)
KEY VERSE: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day" (v 54).
TO KNOW: In the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, there are two important elements in Jesus' pronouncement that he was the "bread of life" (v 35). He is both word and sacrament. In John 6:35-50, the "bread of life" is a figure of God's revelation in Jesus: the "word made flesh" (1:14). Beginning in verse 51, the sacramental theme comes to the fore. Jesus plainly says that his flesh is "true food" and his blood is "true drink" (v 55). The Greek word that John used was not merely symbolic (phago means to "eat" or "devour"). He speaks of the reality of Jesus' flesh and blood in his Eucharistic presence. Through word and sacrament, Jesus continues to feed us spiritually, transforming and uniting us to him so that we can worthily enter God's eternal reign.
TO LOVE: Am I aware of Christ's true presence when I participate in the Eucharist?
TO SERVE: Risen Lord, feed me at your table of eternal life.
Friday 15 April 2016
Fri 15th. Day of penance.
Acts 9:1-20. Go out to all the world, and tell the
Good News—Ps 116(117). John 6:52-59.
I am the bread of life.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says very plainly:
‘If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will
not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has
eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day’.
How strange and confusing that teaching must have been
for the Jews who heard Jesus that day. Even in our own times, people fail to
recognise that Jesus offers himself to us at every Mass—body, soul, flesh and
divinity—in the Eucharist.
Lord, I pray that, like Saul on the road to Damascus,
I might recognise your presence in my life. Help the scales fall from my eyes.
Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
MINUTE
MEDITATIONS
|
In His Image
|
Try to realize the dignity God has conferred on you. He created
and formed your body in the image of his beloved Son, and your soul in his own
likeness.
—St. Francis
—St. Francis
April
15
Blessed Caesar de Bus
(1544-1607)
Blessed Caesar de Bus
(1544-1607)
Like
so many of us, Caesar de Bus struggled with the decision about what to do with
his life. After completing his Jesuit education he had difficulty settling
between a military and a literary career. He wrote some plays but ultimately
settled for life in the army and at court.
For a
time life was going rather smoothly for the engaging, well-to-do young
Frenchman. He was confident he had made the right choice. That was until he saw
firsthand the realities of battle, including the St. Bartholomew's Day
massacres of French Protestants in 1572.
He
fell seriously ill and found himself reviewing his priorities, including his
spiritual life. By the time he had recovered, Caesar had resolved to become a
priest. Following his ordination in 1582, he undertook special pastoral work:
teaching the catechism to ordinary people living in neglected, rural,
out-of-the-way places. His efforts were badly needed and well received.
Working
with his cousin, Caesar developed a program of family catechesis. The goal—to
ward off heresy among the people—met the approval of local bishops. Out of
these efforts grew a new religious congregation: the Fathers of Christian
Doctrine.
One
of Caesar's works, Instructions for the Family on the Four Parts of the
Roman Catechism, was published 60 years after his death.
He
was beatified in 1975.
Comment:
“Family catechesis” is a familiar term in parish life today. Grounded in the certainty that children learn their faith first from their parents, programs that deepen parental involvement in religious education multiply everywhere. There were no such programs in Caesar’s day until he saw a need and created them. Other needs abound in our parishes, and it’s up to us to respond by finding ways to fill them or by joining in already established efforts.
“Family catechesis” is a familiar term in parish life today. Grounded in the certainty that children learn their faith first from their parents, programs that deepen parental involvement in religious education multiply everywhere. There were no such programs in Caesar’s day until he saw a need and created them. Other needs abound in our parishes, and it’s up to us to respond by finding ways to fill them or by joining in already established efforts.
LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 6,52-59
Lectio Divina:
Friday, April 15, 2016
Easter Time
1) OPENING PRAYER
Our living and loving God,
how could we know the depth of your love
if your Son had not become flesh of our flesh
and blood of our blood?
How could we ever have the courage
to live for one another and if necessary to die
if he had not given up his body
and shed his blood for us?
Thank you for letting him stay in the eucharist with us
and making himself our daily bread.
Let this bread be the food that empowers us
to live and die as he did,
for one another and for you,
our living God, for ever and ever.
how could we know the depth of your love
if your Son had not become flesh of our flesh
and blood of our blood?
How could we ever have the courage
to live for one another and if necessary to die
if he had not given up his body
and shed his blood for us?
Thank you for letting him stay in the eucharist with us
and making himself our daily bread.
Let this bread be the food that empowers us
to live and die as he did,
for one another and for you,
our living God, for ever and ever.
2) GOSPEL READING - JOHN 6,52-59
Then the Jews started arguing among
themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?'
Jesus replied to them: In all truth I
tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood,
you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has
eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. For my flesh is
real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me and I live in that person. As the living Father sent me and I draw
life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. This is
the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our
ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever.
This is what he taught at Capernaum in
the synagogue.
3) REFLECTION
• We are almost at the end of the
Discourse of the Bread of Life. Here begins the part of the greatest polemic.
The Jews close themselves and begin to discuss on the affirmations of Jesus.
• John 6, 52-55: Flesh and Blood: the
expression of life and of the total gift. The Jews react: “How can this man
give us his flesh to eat?” The feast of the Passover was close at hand. After a
few days everybody would have eaten the meat of the paschal lamb in the
celebration of the night of the Passover. They did not understand the words of
Jesus, because they took them literally. But Jesus does not diminish the
exigencies, he does not withdraw or take away anything of what he has said and
he insists: “In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of
man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh
and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the
last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person”. (a) To eat
the flesh of Jesus means to accept Jesus as the new Paschal Lamb, whose blood
liberates us from slavery. The Law of the Old Testament, out of respect for
life, prohibited to eat the blood (Dt 12, 16.23; Acts 15.29). The blood was the
sign of life. (b) To drink the Blood of Jesus means to assimilate the same way
of life which marked the life of Jesus. What gives life is not to celebrate the
manna of the past, but rather to eat this new bread which is Jesus, his flesh
and his blood. Participating in the Eucharistic Supper, we assimilate his life,
his surrender, his gift of self. “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and you do not drink his Blood you will not have life in you”. They should
accept Jesus as the Crucified Messiah, whose blood will be poured out.
• John 6, 56-58: Whoever eats my flesh,
will live in me. The last phrases of the discourse of the Bread of Life are of
the greatest depth and try to summarize everything which has been said. They
recall the mystical dimension which surrounds the participation in the
Eucharist. They express what Paul says in the letter to the Galatians: “It is
no longer I, but Christ living in me (Ga 2, 20). And what the Apocalypse of
John says: “If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in
to share a meal at that person’s side” (Rev 3, 20). And John himself in the
Gospel: “Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and
we shall come to him and make a home in him” (Jn 14, 23). And it ends with the
promise of life which marks the difference with the ancient Exodus: “This is
the bread which has come down from heaven. It is not like the bread our
ancestors ate, they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever.”
• John 6, 59: The discourse in the
Synagogue ends. The conversation between Jesus and the people and the Jews in
the Synagogue of Capernaum ends here. As it has been said before, the Discourse
of the Bread of Life offers us an image of how the catechesis of that time was,
at the end of the first century, in the Christian communities of Asia Minor.
The questions of the people and of the Jews show the difficulties of the
members of the communities. And the answer of Jesus represents the
clarifications to help them to overcome the difficulties, to deepen their faith
and to live more intensely the Eucharist which was celebrated above all in the
night between Saturday and Sunday, the Day of the Lord.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• Beginning with the Discourse on the
Bread of Life, the celebration of the Eucharist receives a very strong light
and an enormous deepening. Which is the light that I see and which helps me to
advance?
• To eat the flesh and blood of Jesus is
the commandment that he leaves. How do I live the Eucharist in my life? Even if
I cannot go to Mass every day or every Sunday, my life should be Eucharistic.
How do I try to attain this objective?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Praise Yahweh, all nations,
extol him, all peoples,
for his faithful love is strong
and his constancy never-ending. (Ps 117,1-2)
extol him, all peoples,
for his faithful love is strong
and his constancy never-ending. (Ps 117,1-2)
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