Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
ENCOUNTERING CHRIST IN WORD AND SACRAMENT
Introduction
Luke presents the conversion of the treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia very much in parallel with that of the disciples of Emmaus. The latter had listened to Christ’s explanation of the Scriptures about himself, and then recognized and really encountered the living, Risen Lord in the breaking of bread, in the Eucharist. The Ethiopian had the Scriptures explained to him about the lamb that was slain and the good news of the resurrection. Then, he asked to be baptized so that he could encounter the Risen Lord.
In the Gospel, Christ speaks again of himself as the bread of life to be accepted in faith and promises to give the bread of his own flesh in the Eucharist for the life of the world, for eternal life.
Reading 1: Acts 8:26-40
26-28 Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
29-30 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31-33 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:
As a sheep led to slaughter,
and quiet as a lamb being sheared,
He was silent, saying nothing.
He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.
But who now can count his kin
since he’s been taken from the earth?
34-35 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.
36-39 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.
40 Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.
Gospel: Jn 6:44-51
43-46 Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me.
47-51 “I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”
Prayer
Father,
you draw all people to you
who believe in your Son, Jesus Christ.
Faith Lord, faith it is that we need.
Give it to us, we pray you,
a living faith that we can encounter today
Jesus Christ, your Son,
in your Word that you speak to us,
in the bread that you offer us,
and in the food that we can give
and can be to one another,
in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever.
Reflection:
27 April 2023
John 6:44-51
Make Jesus the centrepiece of your meal, not a side dish!
In the Gospel for today, Jesus invites those who had seen the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves to upgrade their faith. He helped them recall the event of manna with which God had fed the forefathers on their long journey through the desert. Now he applies the symbol of the bread to himself and says: “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:48).
For our daily lives, we need bread, and Jesus is that bread. Pope Francis explains the passage by saying, “Jesus alone nourishes our soul; he alone forgives us from that evil that we cannot overcome on our own; he alone makes us feel loved even if everyone else disappoints us; he alone gives us the strength to love and, he alone gives us the strength to forgive. He is the essential bread of life.”
He summarises the entirety of who he is and what he does in these words, “I am the bread of life”. In the Gospel, however, his listeners are not amused but scandalised. We might also be scandalised: we might be more comfortable having a God that stays in heaven and does not interfere in our lives while we manage matters here on earth. Instead, God became man to enter into the concrete reality of this world and our lives. The Lord is interested in every aspect of our lives.
Pope Francis has a beautiful analogy for the “Bread of Life.” He says, “Being the Bread of Life, the Lord wants us to have him for the main course and not as a side dish! Sometimes we put him aside as a side dish and call on him only when we need him.
At least once a day, we eat together in our family, perhaps in the evening, for the dinner. It would be lovely, before breaking bread, to invite Jesus, the Bread of Life, to ask him simply to bless what we have done and what we have failed to do. Let us invite Him into our homes; let us pray at home. Jesus will be at the table with us, and a greater love will feed us.
The phrase, “Eat my flesh”, means much more than eating Eucharistic bread. It means assimilating the person of Jesus and living as another Christ with flesh and blood. The huge challenge the Lord places before us is to become another Christ.
May the Virgin Mary, in whom the Word became flesh, help us grow daily in friendship with Jesus, the Bread of Life.
Make Jesus the centerpiece of your meal, not a side dish! – Youtube