Saint Joseph the Worker
St. Joseph the Worker
Readings for Friday of the Third Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 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.
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 9:1-20
This is the first of three accounts of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus from St. Luke. According to these accounts, Saul, the enforcer of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, was an involuntary convert, a person of zeal and energy that the Lord turned, as scripture says, into God’s instrument.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 117:1bc, 2
This, “shortest” of all the Psalms, is a hymn of praise sung by the community to the Lord who is faithful to his people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 6:52-59
The “Bread of Life” discourse continues (some what redundant with the proceeding verses) and the Lord escalates his language. The people who had come to him because they had been fed with the five barley loaves just cannot make the leap from bread made from wheat or barley to the “Bread of Life” offered as true food and drink for the spirit. Even when he alludes to manna as an example of real food (Exodus 16:1ff) they still do not see that the Son of God offers them his resurrected body as their meal and they are repulsed – especially because of the language he uses (The word “gnaw” is used not just “eat” in the original texts).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
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.
How ironic that these words, coming from a humble and gentle man could be so misconstrued through the millennia since his life on earth ended. We put it to you the reader, is this statement of the nature of the Eucharist (Communion as it is called by our Protestant brethren) ambiguous? Is Jesus speaking in metaphor? “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Does that statement feel like he is speaking in tongues?
As we hve said before we are called to be a Eucharistic people. That means through the Blessed Sacrament we take into ourselves is the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and as Jesus tells us in the Gospel; “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him.” It is through this belief and relationship that we have an incredibly intimate relationship with Jesus when he is in us and we in him.
We ask once more – if we believe in the Gospel, mustn’t we also believe that Jesus left us more than simply a ritual in the upper room the night before he died? We must believe that his body, which we see with our natural eyes as bread, and his blood, that likewise we see as wine, has become our salvation at his word. And would it not be necessary for him to pass on that salvation to all generations through his Apostles, who through the imposition of hands and prayers have given the Church this holy legacy.
Our belief in this great gift must overcome great obstacles in our logical minds. We must look past what we see and feel with our physical senses and touch the truth that is spiritual. We must accept the conversion it brings; the change of heart and mind that comes with the peace of Christ given so freely, so generously, so selflessly.
Ah, it is a difficult thing, our acceptance of the Lord in the Eucharist. It takes the faith of a child coupled with the spiritual understanding of an adult. It is not surprising that many are dissuaded from this great truth. But – each time the Eucharistic Prayer is said we are once again invited to that sacrifice. How can we not join in with all our hearts?
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “The Institution of the Eucharist” by Federico Fiori Barocci, 1608
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
St. Joseph the Worker
Readings for Friday of the Third Week of Easter[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Acts 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.
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 9:1-20
This is the first of three accounts of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus from St. Luke. According to these accounts, Saul, the enforcer of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, was an involuntary convert, a person of zeal and energy that the Lord turned, as scripture says, into God’s instrument.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 117:1bc, 2
This, “shortest” of all the Psalms, is a hymn of praise sung by the community to the Lord who is faithful to his people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 6:52-59
The “Bread of Life” discourse continues (some what redundant with the proceeding verses) and the Lord escalates his language. The people who had come to him because they had been fed with the five barley loaves just cannot make the leap from bread made from wheat or barley to the “Bread of Life” offered as true food and drink for the spirit. Even when he alludes to manna as an example of real food (Exodus 16:1ff) they still do not see that the Son of God offers them his resurrected body as their meal and they are repulsed – especially because of the language he uses (The word “gnaw” is used not just “eat” in the original texts).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
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.
How ironic that these words, coming from a humble and gentle man could be so misconstrued through the millennia since his life on earth ended. We put it to you the reader, is this statement of the nature of the Eucharist (Communion as it is called by our Protestant brethren) ambiguous? Is Jesus speaking in metaphor? “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Does that statement feel like he is speaking in tongues?
As we hve said before we are called to be a Eucharistic people. That means through the Blessed Sacrament we take into ourselves is the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and as Jesus tells us in the Gospel; “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him.” It is through this belief and relationship that we have an incredibly intimate relationship with Jesus when he is in us and we in him.
We ask once more – if we believe in the Gospel, mustn’t we also believe that Jesus left us more than simply a ritual in the upper room the night before he died? We must believe that his body, which we see with our natural eyes as bread, and his blood, that likewise we see as wine, has become our salvation at his word. And would it not be necessary for him to pass on that salvation to all generations through his Apostles, who through the imposition of hands and prayers have given the Church this holy legacy.
Our belief in this great gift must overcome great obstacles in our logical minds. We must look past what we see and feel with our physical senses and touch the truth that is spiritual. We must accept the conversion it brings; the change of heart and mind that comes with the peace of Christ given so freely, so generously, so selflessly.
Ah, it is a difficult thing, our acceptance of the Lord in the Eucharist. It takes the faith of a child coupled with the spiritual understanding of an adult. It is not surprising that many are dissuaded from this great truth. But – each time the Eucharistic Prayer is said we are once again invited to that sacrifice. How can we not join in with all our hearts?
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “The Institution of the Eucharist” by Federico Fiori Barocci, 1608
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
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