Acts 9:1-20, Psalm 117:1-2, John 6:52-59

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood,
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord. Jn 6:56


Acts 9:1-20, Psalm 117:1-2, John 6:52-59

Acts 9:1-20

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

The beauty of Scripture is that nothing is hidden. Nothing is sanitized but all is laid bare just as it is. The giants in the Bible have had their moments of cowardice, moments when they have done things that are shameful, they have sinned gravely and Scripture reveals that they were great sinners. 

Today, in the Liturgy, we read about Saul, and how he, filled with murderous rage because he loved his Jewish faith. He believed, the Way that was preached, threatened to undermine it his faith. He saw it as his calling to put an end to it. He was prepared to have blood on his hands for he believed he was doing God's work.

Armed with letters from the authority to widen his search for the so-called enemies of the Jewish faith and bring them in chains to Jerusalem, he had a personal revelation of You. With just a breath of God he was brought down to his knees, he heard Your Voice, and he had a brief conversation with You that changed his life forever.

"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." 

It is said that the greatest sinners become the greatest saints. This is true. For they knew what they were and how merciful God has been to them and what they truly deserved but for God's goodness, they experience a metanoia. No longer are they the people they once were.

Ananias had a vision of You. His response must be the response of everyone who professes to be Your disciple, 
 "Here I am, Lord." 

Once we hear Your voice this is always what we must say and when we surrender and yield to Your will, You reveal our mission. It may not always one that is pleasant or one that we gladly embrace as we see from Ananias' response. He was afraid because of the rumors he had heard of Saul. 

Often, we too a guilty of judging people based on what we have heard of them and not who they actually are at the present time. You revealed to Ananias the great mission that You were going to give Saul. Ananias obeyed. He set aside his fears and went to Saul and did as You commanded. 

This was the mission: "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." 


If only, my Beloved, everyone who is baptized became as fervent a disciple as Saul? Unfortunately, in many, many instances, it is the converts who are the better followers. They are aware of what they were before their encounter with You, and how they have been transformed by You. Saul was blind before but now receiving the gift of faith through Baptism he is given a new vision, new courage, new vigor, a wonderful new mission, to bring the Gospel to those who would otherwise have not heard of it. He preached the Gospel in season and out of season despite all the hardships he faced, and his life on earth was crowned with martyrdom. His was a life that is truly worth emulating. 


Psalm 117:1-2 (Mk 16:15)

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

This is my mission. This is the work that has been entrusted to me as one who is baptized. Grant me the grace to preach the Good News of salvation by the way I conduct myself and live my life all the time. Not only when people see me but when I am alone as well.

Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

John 6:52-59

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

These things that You said to the Jews would have sounded reprehensible to them. How can it be? they said. And You did not qualify what You said, nor did You allay their fears, and say You were speaking metaphorically. Once again, so there could be no misunderstanding, You stated unequivocally, 

"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."


There can be no confusion here. The meaning is crystal clear. You go on to elaborate:

"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." 

We are called to feed on You if we are to have divine life coursing through us. We will receive Your Life in us that will never end. When we die our bodies will corrupt and turn to dust but our soul will live on and at the end of time when You come again in glory, You will unite our soul with our body and we will have a share in Your resurrected life.  

Thank You my Beloved, for the wonderful hope that faith in You guarantees all who believe in You.

Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20, John 6:44-51

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;

whoever eats this bread will live forever. Jn 6:51

Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20, John 6:44-51


Acts 8:26-40

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

The Apostles provide a model that we are called to imitate by our own call to discipleship and mission. First and foremost we must listen in order to hear You speak to us. Once we receive direction from the Holy Spirit our response must be one of prompt obedience. God had already planned that the eunuch who was truly seeking would find the answer by sending Philip to him.

The eunuch was an important official in the Ethiopian court and he was chosen to bear the Good News to a new country. He was reading the prophet Isaiah and the chapter on the Suffering Servant. He did not understand what he read as he did not know about whom the prophet was writing. When we are struggling to understand Scripture we have the deposit of Faith in the Catholic Church to help us understand. Philip opened his mind to understand Scripture in the way that You had taught Your disciples. He proclaimed You to him using this Scripture text that the eunuch was reading as his starting point. 

Here again is another insight into how we too can evangelize. We accompany the person beginning from where he or she is at and go on from there. We must trust the Holy Spirit to provide the direction. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead to conversion.

Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life is taken from the earth.

Once the eunuch understood and believed the natural outcome was to desire baptism. Philip baptized him and the newly baptized Christian, strengthened in his new found faith, went back home rejoicing. He in turn evangelized and made You known and loved in Ethiopia.

Each of us has already been given a mission from the moment we were conceived. It is up to each one of us to cooperate with the graces given to us from Baptism and all through our lives and to preach the Good News by the way we live our lives.

Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

Praise must be the language of all God's people. We are an Easter people and our song is Alleluia as St. John Paul II has said. Our lips must constantly confess what You in Your goodness have done for us. How You have saved us from the jaws of death and crushed the devourer under Your heel.

You have given each of us an angel so we do not slip and if we do You have given us the means by which we can return to the fold through Confession. We have to be aware of the blessings that You pour upon us from the moment we were first conceived. When we praise You Beloved our own souls are lifted with joy and filled with gladness and gratitude. You become present in our lives as we count our blessings. Thank You for always being attuned to my prayers and for answering every one of them perhaps not always in the way I desired but in the way that was for my good.

Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!

John 6:44-51

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

From the beginning of Your mission, after You were baptized in the river Jordan, You preached the Good News of God's love. You revealed to all who came to You that God was our Father and that it was He who sent You into the world in order that we too may know Him, love Him, and believe that it was He who sent You to save us.

God our Father sent You into the world in order to fulfill what the prophets said, 

They shall all be taught by God.

We need grace in order to listen to the Father and be drawn to You. This is why You sent Your Holy Spirit as our Helper, Protector, Guide, and our Paraclete. He opens our minds to understand the Truth to believe and receive eternal life.

You reveal to the crowds who have come in search of You after You performed the miracle of the loaves and fish, that it is You Yourself who is the Bread of Life. Unlike the manna that their ancestors ate and were hungry again, those who eat Your Flesh will never know hunger again for Your Flesh gives life to the world. Demons tremble for they know they have lost and this is why we have such depravity in the world today where every divine principle is being scorned, mocked and trivialized.  But this is God's world - He, its Creator, You, its Redeemer and the Holy Spirit, its Sanctifier. We know the end of the story. You Beloved, are victorious. You have triumphed. We are saved.