FRIDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me, and I live in him, says the Lord. JN 6:56

ACTS 9:1-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The world is full of men and women like Saul before his Damascus experience. Ignorant of You but on fire with a cause that they deem is worth living and dying for and once, like Saul they encounter You there are no better disciples than they, on fire with the Holy Spirit and fearless in preaching the Good News.

All of us ought to have a powerful and personal conversion experience recognizing the person we were and the person we have become as a result of encountering You. 

Just as there are people like Saul to whom You reveal Yourself in mysterious and powerful ways there as godly people like Ananias who must trust You and Your Word and allow themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit even though conventional wisdom and prudence may discourage it. Despite his misgivings about Saul whose bloodthirsty reputation preceded him, he obeyed Your command.  

You reveal Your plans to Your friends as You did to Ananias concerning Saul, 'This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.'

You can make saints of anyone even those we deem unredeemable. Your Blood covers all and with You, all things are possible. May we never forget that by virtue of our baptism, we are Your chosen instruments with a mission to make known to an unbelieving world that You are indeed the Son of God. 

PSALM 117 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The shortest of all the psalms contains in it all that is necessary to testify to the world who You are by the witness of our lives. 

All we do must praise and glorify You. We must shed the light of Your Word in the world by the way we live from moment to moment. This is possible only if Your Word is a light to our feet and a lamp to our path. 

What is the Good News - it is this that the love of God for us is strong, unshakeable, invincible, unchanging and that You are faithful forever. The Cross is firmly planted between heaven and earth and is a witness for all time, of Your triumph and victory over sin and death to all who believe.

JOHN 6:52-59 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Can anything be less unambiguous than this, 'My flesh is real food and my blood real drink?' For 1500 years every Christian believed in this life-giving truth until the seeds of division were sown by the Father of Lies leading many to fall by the wayside. They drifted from the doctrine preached faithfully by the apostles, the early church fathers, and their successors ever since You instituted this Sacrament. 

The argument started by the Jews continues to this day, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ And the Church speaking faithfully in Your Name for over 2000 years responds with Your words, 

‘I tell you most solemnly,

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.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.

All who do not believe in Your real presence in the Holy Eucharist are prepared to risk eternal salvation because of pride, spiritual blindness, sheer bigotry against the Church, and hardheartedness. 

As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’

These verses conclude with this verse:

He taught this doctrine at Capernaum, in the synagogue.

You taught this doctrine - it was not fabricated by the Church yet they refuse to believe. Unity will come only when we are united as one Body through the Eucharist and the peace that You came to give will be realized.