Today, 22nd of June, we celebrate
Saint Paulinus of Nola and
Saints John Fisher and Thomas More.
First Reading:Acts 8:26-40
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south towards the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road." So he set out and it happened that an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians; he had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip, "Go and catch up with that carriage." So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, "Do you really understand what you are reading?" The Ethiopian replied, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. This was the passage of Scripture he was reading:
He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, he did not open his mouth. He was humbled and deprived of his rights. Who can speak of his descendants? For he was uprooted from the earth.
The official asked Philip, "Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?"
Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they traveled down the road they came to a place where there was some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, "Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptized?"
Then he ordered the carriage to stop; both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy.
Philip found himself at Azotus, and he went about announcing the Good News in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Gospel Reading:Jn 6:44-51
Jesus addressed the crowd, "No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets: They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to me.
"For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
"I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread which comes from heaven so that you may eat of it and not die.
"I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world."
There’s nothing more necessary and urgent for a person than food. Without it, there’s no life. Without it, there’s no future. The bread mentioned in today’s Gospel—in the world of Jesus and in many other cultures and times—has always been the basic food. Bread, then, becomes a symbol not only of nourishment, but of life itself. Without bread, there’s no life—just like in other cultures, we might say the same about rice.
When Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” and repeats, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever,” He’s connecting bread—nourishment—with life. But He speaks of a different kind of bread. Regular bread must be eaten every day. The bread Jesus speaks of gives eternal life.
What Jesus says about Himself and the bread clearly relates to the Eucharist, which we celebrate often. But it goes far beyond that. To encounter Jesus is to encounter the One who gives us true life. Feeding on Him—on His words, His life—leads us to live in such a way that our own lives gain deeper meaning and open up to a new future.
But we can’t separate these words of Jesus from His message about the Kingdom. The Eucharist makes visible this Kingdom dimension—the fraternity we’re called to as sons and daughters of God. To receive Communion is to enter into a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus. But it’s not a private, closed relationship—it opens us up to others, to fraternity. Because in Jesus, life is found in the Kingdom, and the Kingdom means fraternity and justice. A fraternity open to all humanity, and one that must become real in concrete acts of love.
Without that fraternity, without that communion with our brothers and sisters, there can be no true communion with Jesus. Our relationship with Him necessarily passes through our relationship with others. Only then does the bread of the Eucharist become truly bread of life and hope—for us and for the world.
Fernando Torres, CMF
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.
Opening 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.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, we want to live,
live to the full
and without limits or boundaries.
Give us the bread of life, we pray you,
that we may know and love and live,
that we may give ourselves
with him who gave himself
as flesh for the life of the world,
and be raised up with him on the last day
to live with you for ever and ever.
Prayer after Communion
God of the living,
you have given us the bread of life,
that we may eat it and not die,
All thanks be to you, Father,
but make our faith strong and deep
that your Son is with us,
that in him the world can live
a life worth living, a life of hope,
of justice and dignity and love,
a life that lasts for ever and ever.
Blessing
To live, to be alive, to be vibrant with life, that is how we and our communities should be if the Lord is really alive among us. Some early Christian communities called themselves "Hoi zõntes," "those who are alive." Shouldn't we all be? May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
