THURSDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. JN 6:51

ACTS 8:26-40 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

If only all the baptized, all the members of Your Body were like Philip the Kingdom of God would be present in our midst.

We can learn so much from the Apostle Philip today and we can strive to evangelize as he did. From the first, we know that he was obedient - when You said, 'Follow Me', he did. His ear was always attuned to the voice of God and to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Today we read that the angel of the Lord spoke to him saying, 'Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.' He needed no further instruction, he asked for no further details, he just did as he was told. If only we could trust God's word as he did we would be the instrument by which You worked marvels.

Philip met the Ethiopian at precisely the place where he was on his spiritual journey. He was reading a passage from the prophet Isaiah and when questioned replied honestly that he could not understand unless someone explained to him what he read. Philip did so and his explanation of the Gospel was so powerful that as soon as the Ethiopian spotted water on the road he asked to be baptized. As soon as Philip did as he requested he was taken away by the Spirit while the newly baptized Christian was filled with such great joy that he carried the message with him and in turn proclaimed the Gospel in his home country.  He never saw Philip again but his encounter with him transformed his life forever.

As for Philip, he continued to journey and proclaim the Good News wherever he went.

Lord grant us the grace to be filled with the fervor of the Apostles so we too can be powerful evangelists by the way we live in our lives and spread the light of the Gospel to all around us.

JOHN 6:44-51 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The world is full of amazingly committed Christians and they are to be greatly admired for their love of the Bible, their study of the Word of God, and their zeal and fervor to evangelize because they love You.

Your Word reveals to the crowd listening to You:

‘No one can come to me

unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,
and I will raise him up at the last day.’

You go on to say that from the beginning it is God Himself who has always taught His people and You tell Your hearers that anyone who hears the teaching of the Father and learns from it will come to You. Furthermore, You say that no one has seen the Father except You and You reveal all that the Father desires You to reveal this is why anyone who hears the Father hears You, and anyone who hears You hears the Father. All Christians believe this and in believing they have the hope of eternal life.

However, the discourse does not end there, there is a great deal more that forms the crux of this teaching, and sadly Christians are so prejudiced against the Catholic Church that their leaders, teachers, and even they have overlooked the absolute core of the Gospel message. 

There is more to eternal life than just believing that You have seen the Father and came into the world from Him - we are called to embrace the entire teaching failing which we will lack the fullness of life that You came to give all who believe.

You say it best, Beloved,

‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.’  JN 6:48-51

‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Jn 6:53-56