Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
PERSECUTION, BREAD OF LIFE
Introduction
The fervor of the young Church is so contagious, that even in persecution Christians use the occasion of the persecution itself to preach the risen Christ. Indeed, God does not abandon the Church, even in moments of trial. The reading from Acts says that there was even great joy over the signs of the Lord’s presence.
There is also a great joy in the Gospel where we hear Jesus says that he is our bread of life: not only will he later give himself as bread to eat, but his word and message are for us real bread of life, something to live by and to live for.
Reading 1: Acts 8:1b-8
8 1-2 That set off a terrific persecution of the church in Jerusalem. The believers were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. All, that is, but the apostles. Good and brave men buried Stephen, giving him a solemn funeral—not many dry eyes that day!
3-8 And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail. Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah. When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God’s action, they hung on his every word. Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way. And what joy in the city!
Gospel: Jn 6:35-40
39-40 “This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time.”
Prayer
God, our Father,
you are our faithful God,
even in days of trial for the Church
and for each of us personally;
you stay by our side,
even if we are not aware of your presence.
Give us an unlimited trust in you
and make us ever more aware
that your Son Jesus is the meaning of our lives
and that he nourishes us with himself,
today and every day, forever.
Reflection:
26 April 2023
John 6:35-40
Where am I headed? Do I go to Jesus?
The crowd who followed Jesus had experienced the sign of Jesus feeding the multitude in the desert. They hailed him as a prophet; wanted him to be their king. However, they refused to adhere to his words. They preferred to remain a crowd rather than to believe in Him and become His disciples. This was an actual problem the evangelist faced in his community when writing the Gospel. He attempts to address the unbelief of numerous people in the resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel also deals with the obvious fruits of the Spirit of Jesus at work within the Christian community.
John tells his community,’ If people refuse to come to Jesus and entrust themselves to him, they fail to be open to the inspirations of the Father who sent Jesus. Only those open to the Father’s inspiration can receive the grace to come to Jesus and believe in him.
Those who followed the “WAY” of Jesus in the early community were no more accepted in the synagogues by the Jews. They were driven away. John wants to reassure those ‘outcastes’ of society: “Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away” (Jn 6:37). That is the invitation to come to Jesus, the living one, to gain immunity against death.
In his reflections on the passage, Pope Francis writes: “To come to Jesus: this might seem a generic and even a cliched spiritual exhortation. But let us try to make it concrete by asking a few questions: Today, in the files that I handled in the office, did I draw nearer to the Lord? Did I make them an occasion for speaking to him? In the persons whom I met, did I involve Jesus?
Did I bring them to him in prayer? Or did I do everything while thinking only of my concerns, rejoicing only in things that went well for me and complaining about those that didn’t? To keep it in one word, did I live my day coming to the Lord, or was I simply orbiting around myself? And where am I headed? Do I seek only to make a good impression and protect my ego, schedule and free time? Or do I come to the Lord?
Let us allow ourselves to be challenged by these thoughts. We will be more attuned to the desire that Jesus expresses in today’s Gospel: that he loses nothing of what the Father has given him (cf. Jn 6:39). Amid so many worldly voices that make us forget the meaning of life, let us grow attuned to the will of Jesus, risen and alive. Thus we will make our lives this day a dawn of resurrection.