Friday of the Third Week of Easter

“The Conversion of St. Paul”
by Parmigianino, 1530’s

Readings for Friday of the Third Week of Easter [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
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.
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Commentary on Acts 9:1-20
 
This is the first of three accounts of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the hero of the second half of the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke (see also Acts 22:1-16 and 26:9-18). With the topic of evangelization of the world already initiated with the story of Philip and the eunuch, St. Luke now focuses on evangelization of the Gentiles.
 
According to these accounts, Saul, the enforcer of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, was an involuntary convert. He was a person of zeal and energy that the Lord turned, as Scripture says, into God’s instrument. Although St. Luke only gives Saul the title “apostle” twice (Acts 14: 4; 14), this passage provides a parallel. Paul sees the Kyrios – the risen Lord; he is called, he is given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he proclaims Christ crucified.
 
CCC: Acts 9:3-18 639; Acts 9:4-5 598; Acts 9:13 823; Acts 9:14 432; Acts 9:20 442
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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.
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Commentary on Ps 117:1bc, 2
 
“This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God's supremacy. The supremacy of Israel's God has been demonstrated to them by the people's secure existence, which is owed entirely to God's gracious fidelity.” [4] Using a refrain from St. Mark’s Gospel, the psalm is one of praise for the Good News of God’s salvation.
 
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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.
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Commentary on Jn 6:52-59
 
The “Bread of Life” discourse continues (somewhat redundant with the preceding 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 with 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).
 
Verse 58 (“This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever”) conveys the key purpose to the Lord's discourse, the offer of salvation, eternal life with the Father.  Just as he will later say to the "Good Thief" as they hang on their crosses, "Today you will be with me in Paradise," (Luke 23:43) he speaks to this crowd of the offer he makes available through his sacrifice.
 
CCC: Jn 6 1338; Jn 6:53-56 2837; Jn 6:53 1384; Jn 6:54 994, 1001, 1406, 1509, 1524; Jn 6:56 787, 1391, 1406; Jn 6:57 1391; Jn 6:58 1509
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Reflection:
 
The story of St. Paul’s emotional conversion to Christianity does not say what happened to him in detail once he regained his sight and was baptized.  We are told only: “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.”  However, knowing what we know about the early Christians, we can be quite confident that he participated in the Eucharistic meal with those who followed “The Way.”
 
What must that re-creation of the meal in the upper room have meant to St. Paul, one educated in Jewish law and tradition?  It followed a familiar pattern; it was like the Passover Meal at the beginning.  But then Jesus, the Kyrios, the Risen Lord, whom he had encountered on the road to Damascus, changed everything.  All his adult life, St. Paul had worshiped a God who accepted his sacrifices and holocausts (burnt offerings) at the temple.  St. Paul knew the psalms and had sung many times the great penitential songs which told of God’s desire for a contrite heart, not the blood of animals.  Here at last was the complete sacrifice, offered time and again for complete forgiveness.
 
We hear in his letters the impact of this selfless offering had upon the apostle, made by the Only Son of God.  His zeal in persecuting the Christian community was an episode in his life that would haunt him.  While it was clear that Christ forgave him and St. Paul knew this, we are not convinced that he could ever have forgiven himself.  That is what the Eucharist did for St. Paul.  His numerous encounters with the Broken Bread made him whole and gave him strength. It was the Eucharist that led him to tell the known world of the Savior who gave his life for the sins of all mankind and left them an eternal legacy in his body and blood.
 
As we recall St. Paul’s conversion, let us remember the untold role that his sharing of the Eucharist must have played in his later accomplishments on the part of Christ.  Today we pray for all those who persecute the Church, especially in the Middle East and Asia, that their eyes might be opened to see the Glory of the Risen Lord and that they be called to his table.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used is “The Conversion of St. Paul” by Parmigianino, 1530’s.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB footnote on Ps 117.